An Ocean Between You and Me
by sa7rah
Summary: In the almost ten years they had been together, Troy Bolton has never broken a promise.  He still had no intentions on breaking a promise, no matter how much their life together changed.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

So, this is my first story. It's based off of a true story. Sorry for the suckiness. The only time I've ever really wrote anything is for school essay's/assignments.

Twenty-five year old Gabriella Montez woke up late on a Monday morning and began her usual morning routine. This routine however, was very precise and she was convinced that if one tiny detail went wrong, her day would be ruined. It just so happened this was one of those days.

After waking up late she rushed herself. She picked out her clothes for the day, showered, put her make up on, ate breakfast, got in her car, and left her apartment. What went wrong you ask? She forgot to brush her teeth.

The day seemed to continually get worse after she realized she forgot to brush her teeth. First of all, it was snowing. Gabriella had lived in the southern part of the country majority of her life, never having to worry about severely cold weather or snow pretty much her whole life. When contemplating the decision to move to Colorado after she'd been offered a job at a law firm located near the city of Denver, she didn't consider the snow to be all that big of a deal. It was just white fluff, right? Well she should've thought harder and thought about how much she hated the cold weather.

After arriving at work, Gabriella meet up with a new client. After listening to the young woman, she quickly decided that there was no way she could prove her client innocence. Trying to think positively Gabriella thought about warm, tropical places. Before getting too lost in her thoughts of paradise, she quickly shook herself out of her daydream. Looking down at her desk she had fully intended on starting her work until she saw _his_ picture. Well, the picture wasn't just of him, but of her as well. It was taken on her seventeenth birthday, she had received a necklace from him and when they arrived back from their date, in the midst of their goodnight kiss, Gabriella's mother had snapped the picture of them.

"_Gabriella! Wait up! Hold o-," Gabriella could hear someone shout from down the hall. She stopped and turned around, recognizing the voice. After turning around she saw him, sprawled on the floor with a streak of water behind him, multiple people staring at him, some trying to hide their amusement, others not so much._

_Smiling and giggling at her boyfriend's embarrassment, she headed toward him, holding her hand out to assist him in getting up he groaned in pain and made now sign of moving. Finally he spoke, respectively saying "Oh, shit."_

_Once again giggling at her boyfriend she jokingly said "Come on Wildcat, stand up you're embarrassing me."_

"_Glad to know you're sympathetic to my pain. You know, I could have hit my head, cracked it open, gotten a concussion, and been out the rest of the basketball season and all you care about is _your _embarrassment? Wow, I really thought you cared about me."_

_Rolling her eyes at his dramatic claims, he grasped her hand and finally stood up. After taking his time to pick up his belongings he put his arm around her shoulder and asked, "So how was your day? Anything significant happen? Any distinctive seventeen year old things happen today?"_

"_Considering you've been attached at my hip almost all day, you should know that nothing significant has happened, except that little stunt you just pulled."_

"_If you would have just waited by your locker like always I wouldn't have had to run down the hallways therefore it is technically your fault that I fell. You are so damn impatient sometimes." He smirked down at her, he knew she knew he was teasing her when he saw the slight smile on her face and could feel her lean into him._

_As she leant into him, she thought about how she loved it when he swore. Gabriella seemed very innocent, and to a certain degree she was. She would never swear in public or wear seemingly risqué clothing. She respected herself and wasn't going to receive a bad reputation so early in her life because of the way she spoke or the clothes she wore. Of course, she was not oblivious to her surroundings and had done not very innocent things with her boyfriend behind closed doors and for some strange reason, she just loves the way he would let a not so nice word slip._

"_So, you'll pick me up at eight o'clock?" She questioned, changing the subject to the birthday surprise her boyfriend was inevitably planning, "You better be on time."_

"_Who knows? Since it's your birthday, I might even be five minutes early," He looked down at her. He was never late, he always left his house way to early before their dates because he was always anxious to see her._

_Reaching her car, a small used Toyota Camry, he opened her door for her and let her get in the driver's seat, but not before quickly pecking her lips. "Eight o'clock, be ready."_

"_Of course," She replied before giving one more kiss and said, "Love you," before sliding into her seat._

"_Love you too," He said with a smile before shutting the door for her and heading back to his own truck. Both started their cars with smiles on their faces knowing that after knowing each other for twelve years, they could maintain a relationship as well as the friendship they'd had ever since they meet on the big yellow school bus at the ages of five and six._

That night, Troy had given her a simple silver necklace with a small ruby on it. Red was her favorite color and she immediately adored it. It was perfect. They had lain on a blanket together, looking at the stars and eating a variety of different types of candy in the park that they had played at when they were kids when he gave her the necklace. Thinking of that day she felt her heart ache a little. It had been almost eighteen months. Eighteen months since their last kiss, their last night together in their small but cozy apartment, eighteen months since he left. She had thought about him a lot in the past few days. It was the eighteenth of December and with her second Christmas without him safe, at home in their apartment quickly approaching it seemed like all she could think about was him. She didn't want anything to do with the holiday this year. She put off buying presents for her friends and family and had no interest of getting a tree, especially without him there to carry it through their door. She let her head drop in her hands.

It was going to be a long day. Why didn't she brush her damn teeth?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: So I was thinking about revealing where Troy is and what he's doing in this chapter but decided to put it off one more chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Continuing through her day Gabriella Montez had successfully slipped on ice outside her office building, dropped her phone causing a crack in the screen, and ended up at the mall, by herself, to shop for Christmas presents for her mother and fiancé's parents. Gabriella hated going to the mall, especially while she was feeling depressed during the Christmas season. Everyone was seemingly with someone else and in a cheery mood while walking around with bags in one hand and a hot cocoa in the other.

Walking around the mall she saw things she could buy for her family, but nothing special. Finally she decided on getting a purse for her mother and picking out some trinkets from William Sonoma for Troy's parents. Thinking about her relatives, she realized that she would have to make the long trip from Denver to Albuquerque very soon. Hopefully she could arrive at her mother's home, stay for two or three days, and leave again. Although, that was doubtful knowing her mother's siblings and her cousins would be in town this year for the holidays. Her family would hug her, ogle once more at her engagement ring again, and ask when they'd get to see the lucky man. She would honestly reply, "I don't know, soon hopefully," although nothing was guaranteed. Her dislike for the Christmas season wasn't solely based on missing her fiancé, there was also one other distinct Christmas that contributed to her dislike.

_It was almost 11 o'clock at night on December 24 and nine year old Gabriella Montez was playing with her best friend Troy Bolton and his older brother Matt in the basement of her house. Once their parents had meet on their first play date a few years ago, the two families quickly became good friends. Her father was working late this night and her mother had invited the Boltons over for dinner and a movie. The parents had began talking and quickly forgot about the movie they had rented to watch that night. Troy, Matt, and Gabriella were asked to go play downstairs._

_About an hour earlier the phone had rang and her mother left the house looking worried. The Boltons, recognizing the look of panic in her face, said they would stay and watch Gabriella for however long Maria needed. After that she rushed out the door and headed toward the police station. Little did Gabriella know, her life was about to change._

_Gabriella, Troy and Matt fell asleep on the couch shortly after Lucille Bolton, Troy's mother, put in the movie _Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. _Sometime well after midnight Jack Bolton, Troy's father, came downstairs and picked up Gabriella and carried her to her bedroom and woke up Troy and Matt to take them home._

_The next morning Gabriella woke up and headed downstairs to see her mother sitting at the kitchen counter staring blankly at the pancakes she had made while she wasn't able to sleep. Her husband had done something stupid and Maria didn't know how to break the news to little Gabriella. How would she understand? She was only nine._

"_Mommy," Gabriella said, "You look sad, what's the matter? Where's Daddy?"_

_Not knowing what to say and how to break the news Maria said "Come here sweetie. Daddy won't be coming home for a while."_

_Gabriella thought that was strange. Her Daddy told her yesterday that he would be home to watch her open her Christmas presents. She sat on her mother's lap and asked "Why?"_

"_Honey, sometimes people make bad decisions. Those bad decisions can get people in trouble. Your father, he made a bad decision. He, he hit someone with his car last night after he went out with some people from work."_

"_Is Daddy okay?" Gabriella asked, not quite understanding the severity of the situation. She wouldn't fully understand what happened for a few years._

"_He's fine. Some other people though, aren't," Maria said, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that her husband was locked up in jail after causing a car accident while he was drunk._

"_Where is he then?" Gabriella asked, still not understanding that if her father was okay, why he wasn't home._

"_Well, honey, he's um, he's in jail," Maria finally stuttered out not believing that she had just told her daughter that her husband was in jail on Christmas._

_Gabriella looked at her mom, eyes wide, in shock that her father was in jail. "Is he going to come home soon?"_

_Maria gulped, tears coming to her eyes, "No sweetie, I don't think he is."_

It took her a few years to come to the understanding of what happened. Her father had later been sentenced to jail time and community service. Eduardo Montez had later admitted to having an affair. Her mother had decided that the only option for their marriage was to divorce. There was no way Gabriella would forgive her father and she had only seen him a handful of times since he was released from jail.

The years after the incident the Bolton family had consistently spent either Christmas Eve or Christmas day with the Montez's. Troy's father, Jack, had become particularly protective of Gabriella. No one would ever understand the relationship she shared with Jack Bolton. Jack had always been supportive of Gabriella and helped her throughout particularly rough moments in her life by offering fatherly advice in times of need.

Her phone rang in her purse while she was in the midst of putting her bags in the trunk of her car. Looking at the caller ID she decided to answer the phone seeing the name 'Coach' show up on the screen.

"Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Gabs! How are you? Lucille and I wanted to check up on you." She heard him shout in the phone. She rolled her eyes, knowing that no matter how many times she told him there was no need to shout while talking to someone on the phone, he would never change.

"I'm hanging in there. How are you coach?" She replied.

"Well, I'm great. Matt, Jane, and little Sophie arrived today and Mason and Liam get out of school this week." A year after her father had been involved in his accident, Lucille and Jack announced that they were expecting a third child, Mason, and two years later along came Liam. Matt, who was two years older than Troy, had gotten married shortly before Troy left and a few months ago had a baby girl, Sophie. "Sorry we haven't called in a while, we have been busy with basketball games."

"It's okay coach, I understand that you need to train your future basketball superstars." Gabriella smiled hearing about the family she missed.

"We got a letter from Troy this weekend," Jack continued, "He really wants you to come over for Christmas. He even asked Lucille to buy you a present."

"Really?" She asked even more intrigued in the conversation now. She hadn't received a letter from Troy in about two weeks and understood he didn't have much time to write letters to her and his family.

"Yes, I was quite surprised. Usually he just writes you." Was his response.

"What did he write?" Gabriella asked. She always was excited to receive letters from him and was interested as to why he wrote his parents instead.

"He wrote something to each person saying how much he missed them and wishing them a Merry Christmas. He said he sent the letter to us because everyone would be here to read it. He is worried about you. He feels bad that you are alone so close to the holidays. He really wants to be with you."

"I know. I miss him," she said quietly.

"We all do. I couldn't imagine going through Christmas without Lucille, much less two in a row. Are you coming to Albuquerque soon? We want to see you. Maria said that she didn't know when you were coming home." Jack questioned her, honestly concerned about her wellbeing.

"I have to work on the twenty-second. I'll drive down on the twenty-third." She said. Not knowing whether she was excited to see her much loved almost second family or not. It was always bittersweet seeing them. She always had so much fun seeing the Boltons but being reminded of all the time she spent in that house in her teenage years and seeing the similar physical features each member of Troy's family had made her heart want to break a little bit more each time she saw them.

"Take care of yourself Gabriella. Seriously, we all love you and can't wait to see you." Jack said and she could feel her throat tightening and her eyes glossing over. It had been so long without him and each day was getting longer and longer. She had no idea as to when he was going to be coming home. She really knew nothing about him at the moment. The distance was tough. The lack of electricity and phone service made things tougher. Besides the weekly letters and sporadic phone calls she didn't have any clue as to what he was doing or where he was or if he was safe. The thought that she may never see him again scared the hell out of her. God, she missed him. Hopefully he would be home in four months. Maybe even sooner.

"I love you all too Coach. Tell everyone that. I'll see you soon." Gabriella said hoping to end the conversation before the pulled into the parking lot and lost the phone signal.

"See you soon Gabriella. Call us when you leave." Jack hung up the phone before heading to his wife and kissing her. They were just as in love as they were when they first got together in college. He told her he loved her after thinking that his son may never get the chance to tell Gabriella he loved her again. It was going to be another tough Christmas without his son.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So this chapter was revised and edited after I had successfully broken my ankle, ate a thing of fun dip, and had a can of pop. Lets just say I was on a sugar high which was probably not the best idea.**

**So, thank you SO much to all the people who subscribed to my story/reviewed. I honestly thought that maybe two people would read this.**

**Lastly, I KNOW we are still on the same day in this chapter, but I feel like I need to establish Gabriella's normal day routine and feelings before moving on with the story. I also know there are a lot of flashbacks but I feel they are also important to the story and it will move on. AND you need to find out where Troy is.**

**P.S. Congrats to the person who guessed where Troy is correctly ;D**

After ending her phone conversation with Jack Bolton, Gabriella pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. Still feeling emotional, she tried to think of other things. Carrying her shopping bags and a roll of wrapping paper, she headed toward the elevator that would bring her to the fourth level, where her apartment was located. She started to think about the first time Troy and herself had visited the apartment during a trip to Colorado that they had gone on before deciding to officially make the move.

_Twenty-two year old Troy Bolton sat in his bedroom doing research on his laptop. Correction, twenty-two year old Troy Bolton sat in his bedroom in his parent's house doing research on his laptop. Yes, the recent college graduate was living in his parent's house. It was now a month after he had returned to his childhood home and he was already sick of it. He was used to the freedom he had in college. He was able to go to his refrigerator and get a bottle of beer without being stared at, he wasn't being asked everyday when he was going to get a job, and most important he was able to have his girlfriend over without his little brothers or parents interrupting them almost every time they were going to kiss. Yes, Troy Bolton really needs to move out of his parent's house._

_That is why he was on his computer doing research. He was currently looking at the website of a realtor. To be more specific he was researching apartments, apartments in Colorado. Moving to Colorado was something that he had been contemplating for a while now. Gabriella had been offered a job at one of the best law firms in the western region of the United States. He could tell how much she wanted this job just by the way her eyes lit up when she was asked about this particular job offer. Sure, she had other offers in other places, but these offers just didn't bring a sparkle to her eye and it just happened that none of those job offers were located in Albuquerque or even New Mexico either. She was reluctant to accept the offer and Troy knew why. He was the reason she didn't want to accept the job._

_And selfishly, he didn't want her to accept the job offer either. Since the ages of five and six they had never been apart from each other for any extended period of time longer than when Troy had gone to summer camp for two weeks in the third grade. Hell, they had even attended the same college. The thought of being away from her scared the hell out of him. They'd been best friends their whole lives and a couple for the past six years. They shared something that he couldn't describe. He couldn't believe that after knowing him for sixteen years she was still putting up with him. They had spent a good majority of their time on Earth with each other and even though they had been friends for so long, Gabriella wasn't sick of him. She choose to spend her free time with him, she choose to stay up late at night whispering softly into the phone well past midnight, and she choose to be with him. She could have any man in the world if she wanted. She could have a doctor, she could have a lawyer, she could have a guy with tattoos and a motorcycle for all he knew. She choose him. She had done so much for him, so why shouldn't he do something for her? Of course, he would benefit from moving in with her also, but he was willing to sacrifice living close to home for her. And who knows, maybe Colorado would be _their_ new home. Maybe after they moved, they could settle down, get married, and start their own family. This was defininately going to be the top deciding factor in whatever decision he made._

_Hearing his bedroom door open he turned to look toward the door expecting to see his mother, father, or siblings standing in the door frame, he was slightly shocked to see the back of Gabriella's head as she closed the door. Quickly he shut down the open tabs on his laptop and closed his computer just as she sat down beside him on his bed. "Hey," she said before pecking him on the lips._

"_Hello to you too," he replied shortly before kissing her once more, this time it lasted a little bit longer. He quickly adjusted his sitting position so that his side was pressed up next to her and he had an arm wrapped around her body. When their kiss was over she rested her head on his shoulder. It had been a while since they had true alone time and both were feeling the effects of not having any intimate time together. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I can leave if you want," She joked, "I was bored and I wanted to come see you. What were you doing on your computer?"_

"_Oh, you know, just looking for potential job opportunities," He said._

"_Really? Find anything interesting?" She said intrigued with where this conversation was going to go._

"_Well, I found this one school," Troy had recently graduated from USC and was now looking for a job as an English teacher. He had decided two years ago that he loved basketball, but not enough to pursue a career in it. He had only gotten a small taste of the traveling and it had taken a toll on him. If he couldn't handle college ball, how was he supposed to survive professional basketball? "They are looking for a full time English teacher and just happen to have a spot open for a new basketball coach." He wasn't lying, he was researching jobs. Actually, he had contacted the school board a few days ago and they were interested in him enough to want to set up an interview. After getting in contact with the school, they had scheduled an interview, next week, in Denver, Colorado. That was the reason he had gotten onto his computer in the first place. He had gotten side tracked though, beginning to think that Gabriella and him could maybe drive up to Colorado together and check out the area and maybe even see some apartments. He really wanted Gabriella to take the job she desperately wanted._

"_Sounds perfect for you. What school? Where is it? Is it close to Albuquerque?" She asked. She herself had been trying to find a job near Albuquerque but had been failing miserably at the attempt. She didn't want to leave Troy and move to a different state all by herself._

"_No, it's not near Albuquerque," He looked down at her to see the reaction on her face. With a slight smile he said, "It is in Colorado and I managed to set up an interview."_

_Her eyes widened in shock at the statement. Troy hadn't mentioned any interest in taking a job in Colorado. It surprised her that he was even looking at schools on the internet that were located in Colorado. She thought Troy had wanted to move to Albuquerque permanently and that that was where they were going to live after they got married and where they would raise their kids. Thinking that he wouldn't end up liking Colorado and that he was doing this just so that she could take the job she wanted she quickly started to say, "Troy, you don't have to mo-"_

"_No Gabriella, just hear me out. Before you start to try and say that I shouldn't do this just for you I want you to hear me out. I know you want that job and I know I'm the reason you won't take that job. I don't want to hold you back, Ella. I want to move forward with OUR life. I want to be with you and start a lift together. I want to move in with you, I want to start a new chapter of my life with you. I don't care if that means leaving Albuquerque because I love you and I want you to be happy. Sure, I'll be leaving my friends and family but I'll have you and that's what matters. We'll make new friends in Colorado and we'll start our own family eventually. This job, I really want it Ella. It has everything I want and I will be able to coach. Most importantly I'll be able to be with you."_

_Speechless, Gabriella wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and squeezed him sending a silent approval. She wanted exactly what he wanted. Everything would be okay. They could be together and be happy._

"_So what do you say?" Troy continued. "We can go out to Colorado for my interview and check it out. Maybe even look at a few apartments?"_

"_Sounds perfect," She concluded with a smile on her face. She lent up and kissed Troy's cheek, "Thank you."_

"_You don't need to thank me. If you're happy, I'm happy, so thank you for making me happy Ella." They finished their discussion then and sat wrapped in each other's arms for a while before they were called down for dinner._

_The next week they were in Denver. The two were slowly falling in love with the city and had explored different local restaurants, checked out the mall, and started to scout possible areas they could live in. After meeting their realtor they had looked at a few apartments already. The current apartment they were in was exactly in the middle of their price range and had everything they wanted. The apartment was a decent size for the two of them. It had two bedrooms, a nice kitchen, a dining room and a living room and was also located right in the middle of where their jobs would be. The realtor had left them alone for a few minutes so they could share their thoughts with each other._

"_What do you think Wildcat?" Gabriella asked as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She rested her head in the middle of his back between his shoulder blades and waited for his answer._

"_It's perfect," He said in all honesty. He could feel her smiling through his shirt and knew she felt exactly the same way. He rubbed her hand that resting on his stomach._

"_So, it's decided then. This is it." She stated confidently. The smile on her lips wouldn't be rubbed off for a long time. This was it, she was moving to Colorado to take her dream job with her dream man._

At the time Gabriella had honestly thought that they would never be separated. Time had changed since then. They were so much in love and oblivious that anything bad could happen to them. Unlocking her door she walked in and set her bags down on the table. She took off her coat and boots and carried her bags to the kitchen. Looking through the pantry she decided that nothing looked too appealing and decided soup would do. She poured it in pan and put it on the stove then grabbed a pair of scissors and tape and went to the living room to begin wrapping her presents. She turned on the television for some background noise. Flipping through the channels she surpassed what she considered to be stupid reality TV shows with fame desperate women shoving themselves onto a man who was only interested in the show for sex, fame, and bragging rights that he had twenty chicks at one time. Finally she settled on listening to the local news.

She sat there wrapping her presents and tried to pay somewhat of attention to the broadcast but found the stories a bit boring. After a commercial break the news reporter started on a segment concerning the war in Afghanistan. Quickly looking up Gabriella saw the video of a group of men and women arriving home to their families and friends after a particularly long deployment. Once again tears rose to her eyes knowing that that couldn't be her today. Troy had been deployed eighteen months ago shortly after they had started to draft people into the war. She was so envious of the people that were now home and safe knowing that Troy should be at home with her. He should be here, cooking dinner for her and teasing her about the present he was going to give her for Christmas. He should be safe in their apartment.

Realizing that her soup should be ready by now, she headed back into the kitchen to pour it into a bowl and bring it back to the living room. She looked at his letters that she had hung on the fridge on her way; the others were hanging on her mirror in the bathroom.

At the end of the segment they showed pictures of the country. It looked so dry and made her mouth want to water just looking at it. The sight of people walking around with guns made her shiver, especially knowing that Troy was one of those people. They never planned for this to happen.

Sighing, she headed to her bedroom to try to get some sleep. She hadn't been getting much lately. Walking in their closet she saw his clothes hanging up where they hadn't been touched since he left. She knelt down in front of one the bottom drawers in the dresser. The bottom two drawers was where his clothing is stored. Selecting one of his t-shirts she walked back toward her bed and picked up his pillow. After he left his smell had worn off of his pillow fairly quick. Realizing this was happening she would take his t-shirts and sweatshirts and would stuff his pillow inside of it. She knew it sounded ridiculous but that was as close as she would get to sleeping with him. Picking up the t-shirt she slipped the old one off the pillow and slid the new one on. It wasn't Troy, but it would have to suffice for a while.

**A/N: Okay, I know that there isn't a draft for the war in Afghanistan, I completely made it up. The person who told me the story I am basing this on really was drafted into war. I want to illustrate that Troy didn't have a choice but to leave Gabriella.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is possibly the last chapter that may be updated for a few days, I had intended for this to be a one shot but decided it was a bit too long and decided to extend the story a bit more. The parts I have been posting were written all at the same time and all I've had to do was figure out where to separate the different parts. Now that I'm working on writing more parts it is likely the story won't be updated every day. And the pace will start to pick up after this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

The next morning when Gabriella woke up the first thing she saw was the snow falling outside of her bedroom window. It was snowing fairly hard too and she started hoping that the storm wouldn't prevent her from getting the work. Once she moved to Colorado she hadn't expected the terrible driving conditions during the large snowstorms. People had told her to expect a completely different driving experience during the winter and she was completely oblivious to the reality of winter driving until she was driving to work one morning and when approaching the stop sign at the end of a street she slid right through into the middle of the intersection. Luckily there had been no one around but ever since she had that experience she had been a little bit scared of driving when there was snow covering the ground that hadn't been plowed yet.

Turning on the local news hoping to catch the weather report she swore hearing that the storm was going to last about three days. They were encouraging everyone that had travel plans to leave early because no one knew how long it would take to plow the roads after the massive amounts of snow fell. She had to make a decision and she had to make it soon. Should she leave early to ensure making the trip home to Albuquerque or should she stay at home and risk spending Christmas by herself? Deciding that it was probably best to head down to Albuquerque she quickly grabbed her cell phone and dialed the number of her boss to let her know she wasn't going to be at work for the rest of the week. After calling her boss, she dialed her mother's number to inform her she was leaving early.

"Hello?" Maria answered the phone tiredly. She was not expecting a call that early and when seeing the caller ID on the phone she knew she had to answer her phone. What if Gabriella was calling again because she was having a rough time and needed someone to talk to?

"Mama?" Gabriella answered into the phone, "It's Gabi."

"Well I hope it is, who else would call me Mama?" She said jokingly into the phone.

Smiling after hearing her mother's voice, Gabriella was rushing around her room trying to pack up the things she would need for the next few weeks so she could leave Denver as soon as possible so that she wouldn't have to deal with too much snow. "Is it okay if I come down a couple of days early? It's snowing and isn't supposed to stop for three days, I don't want to risk not making it home for Christmas."

"Of course you can Gabi. You don't even need to ask." Maria replied although inside she was a bit nervous for Gabriella to come home. Maria had been seeing someone recently and had yet to mention anything about the new man in her life to Gabriella. Maria had dated a few men since divorcing Gabriella's father but none of the relationships seemed to last longer than two or three months. She had meet Marcus, a single father of two teenagers, in September when she had went to her friend's house for an end of summer barbeque. The two had been introduced and talked the whole night. A week later they had gone out for dinner and they had been together ever since. He was the only man she had meet that made her feel special and reminded her of the feeling of being loved. Not wanting to jinx the relationship early on she had decided to wait to tell Gabriella until she had decided that there might be potential in the relationship. Another reason was that she knew Gabriella might be sensitive to seeing her in a new relationship especially when Troy was so far away. She decided on introducing her boyfriend and his family while Gabriella was in town for the Christmas break, now that she was coming early it made everything much more real and she would have to completely change her plans. There was no way she could have her daughter in their house without introducing her to this new man that made her feel like a teenager again. "When are you leaving?"

"As soon as I can pack all my stuff and take a shower." It was going to be difficult leaving Denver during the storm. "I have no clue when I'll get there though."

"Be safe honey, stop and rest your legs every couple of hours and if you need to stay at a hotel over night if the roads are that bad."

"Okay Mama, I love you but I need to pack and shower."

"Love you too honey, see you soon. Don't forget, be careful." Hanging up the phone Gabriella got in the shower and got ready as quickly as she could. Looking around her room to make sure she packed everything she needed, she decided to go to the kitchen and grab two of the letters Troy had written her and grabbed a t-shirt of his to bring with her. Deciding she was ready to leave she pulled her coat on and stuffed her feet in her boots and headed toward the elevator that would take her down to the parking garage.

* * *

Four hours into her car ride Gabriella was actually feeling pretty good. She was looking forward to seeing her mom and friends that she hadn't seen since the summer. Maybe this would be good for her. Since she was leaving so early she wouldn't have to worry about work until the first week of January and she wouldn't be returning home from long days to a lonely apartment. It would also be a lot warmer in Albuquerque.

Smiling as she drove she thought about when she first moved to Albuquerque. They had moved after the school year started and Gabriella was only in Kindergarten. On her first day of school she was terrified of riding the bus before she knew anyone. Little did she know she would end up sitting next to her future fiancé.

_Five-year-old Gabriella Montez walked with her mother to the bus stop that was located two houses down the road. Her mother had wanted to ensure she made it on the bus before returning back to her new house. Gabriella was dressed in a purple knee length dress that had large sunflowers printed onto it. She was wearing a pair of Mary Jane's and socks with purple lining that matched her dress, her hair was tied up in a half pony tail and she also had on the required Kindergarten name tag that hung on a string around her neck. Getting in line behind a few boys and two girls she stood nervous as the bus pulled up and worried that she wouldn't have anywhere to sit on the bus._

_Climbing up the steps she saw that almost every seat was taken. She could spot four open seats, two were located in the next to some very intimidating fourth and fifth graders. She walked to the first open spot and politely asked the boy sitting in the seat, "May I sit here?"_

_The boy took one look at her and saw the nametag around her neck. The tag was required to be worn by all Kindergarteners and included the student's name, his/her teacher's name, and the letter of the bus they would ride. He scoffed at her question and said, "No, I don't sit with babies." The boys sitting around him started to laugh at what he said, feeling her lip start to tremble she moved down the walkway._

"_Hey! You can sit with me!" She looked at the boy who had said that and noticed he too had a nametag on and she sat down beside him, placing her backpack on her lap._

_Not recognizing the girl he decided that he should introduce himself, "I'm Troy, what's your name?"_

"_My name is Gabriella." She replied quietly. Gabriella had always been somewhat shy._

"_Wow, that's a long name. Can I call you something else?" He asked. He really had never met anyone with that long of a name._

"_Umm… I guess so," Gabriella was unsure of why this boy was being so nice to her. She had never sat down and talked to someone so quickly. "My parents call me Gabi and sometimes Brie. You can call me whatever you want."_

"_Can I call you Ella?" He asked not particularly liking either of her suggestions._

"_Sure, if you want to." Why was this boy being so nice? _

"_Don't listen to that boy. He's REALLY mean. He calls me names at home a lot." The boy, Troy, told her not wanting her to worry about being picked on._

"_You know him?" Gabriella was confused as to why an older boy who was so mean to her would be at Troy's house._

"_He's my older brother," Troy told her as the bus began to pull up in front of the elementary school. "I don't think you're a baby," he wanted to befriend this new girl but didn't want her to be afraid of him because of his older brother, "I think you're kinda pretty actually."_

_Smiling at the compliment she stood up and put her backpack on. While waiting for the other kids to move out of the aisle she heard Troy speak to her again, "Who is your teacher Ella?"_

"_Mrs. Malla, who is your teacher?" Maybe they would be in the same class._

"_No way! I have Mrs. Malla too! Do you want to walk to class with me? I can show you where it is." Troy was now excited that his new friend would be in the same class as him for the rest of the school year._

"_Sure." Getting off the bus and walking to class together they chatted about where Gabriella was from and what they liked to do. Both bonded over the fact that they loved playing at the park and Troy had even asked Gabriella if she would want to go to his house and maybe his Mom would walk them to the local park. Ever since Gabriella and Troy had been best friends._

Smiling at their naivety Gabriella realized how much she was really missing her hometown. She had had so many great memories there and even though she choose to live in Colorado, Gabriella couldn't deny that Albuquerque would always be her home.

When the radio started to play a song she didn't really like Gabriella turned down the volume and decided to call Jack after remembering that he told her to call when she left Denver. Turning on her Bluetooth she waited as the phone rang.

"Hey Gabriella!" Not expecting Troy's 13-year-old brother Liam to answer the phone, his exclamation was a little louder than she expected.

"Hi Liam. What are you doing? Do you have school today?" Liam was currently in his last year of middle school and was starting to resemble Troy more and more.

"No, no school until after New Years. Mason has some friends over and I'm waiting for someone to call," Ah, that was why he answered the phone.

"Is it a girl?" Gabriella had picked on him in a sisterly way after finding out that Liam had a girlfriend the previous year. The relationship was juvenile and only lasted about three weeks. "Have you kissed her yet?" She could always manage to embarrass him.

"No! It is not a girl. I don't even have a girlfriend Gabi!" Liam rolled his eyes at his future sister-in-law. He had known her his whole life and she was the sister that him and his brothers never had. Even though his oldest brother Matt was married and had a kid, he didn't think he would ever become as attached to Julia as he was to Gabriella. After Troy had joined the Army, Liam was nervous he might never get to see his brother. He would never admit it but he missed Troy picking on him and playing ball with him. He admired Gabriella for being so strong and that she had been there to fill in for Troy as their older sibling. "What do you want?" He asked wanting to turn the attention away from his love life especially since his father had just walked in the room.

"I told Coach that I would call him when I left Denver. I am just crossing over the border of Colorado and New Mexico." She told him, "Will you tell him I'm on my way?"

"No way, you are coming home today? I thought Dad said that you weren't leaving until the twenty third." Liam was always excited to see Gabriella. It was almost like she possessed a part of Troy.

"I was but there is this big snow storm and nobody was sure if the roads would be fully plowed until after Christmas."

"You have to come over for dinner when you get here," Gabriella smiled, she was thrilled that even though Troy wasn't with her, his family was still excited to see her, "Bring Maria too, Mom and Dad will want to see her."

"Well, I will have to check with mom but I think that sounds perfect," She was getting more and more anxious to see her second family, "Tell your parents I'll be home before dinner and that I am expecting some home made baked macaroni and cheese." Lucille's baked macaroni and cheese had been Gabriella and Troy's favorite food growing up, every time Lucille made it Gabriella seemed to pop up at Troy's house for dinner.

"Okay, see you in a couple hours Gabi." At this point Liam was sure his friend was going to call soon.

"Bye Liam." Gabriella hung up the phone and turned the radio back on. She had a feeling this would be a Christmas she wouldn't forget. Pulling over at a gas station to fill up the gas tank, she walked into the convience store and picked out a candy bar and a bottle of pop for the rest of the drive and took out her phone to text her mother the plans she had made for that night.

_Dinner at Bolton's 2night? Mac and Cheese :D_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, the north in me came out in the last chapter. Where I live we call soda 'pop.' Sorry about that, I was determined not to do that in my story.**

**Thank you so much to all my reviewers and subscribers, I truly appreciate it. Every time I check my email it seems like I have a bunch of new reviews and favorited story and what not. It brightens up my day a little bit.**

**I am just going to warn you now, I am in High School AND taking college classes at a state university and I also compete in varsity gymnastics and figure skating so updates aren't going to be nearly as often as when I started the story.**

**The story's pace will hopefully pick up now. I am hoping each chapter after this one will cover one day each, leading up to Christmas, if not more. Also, less flashbacks (hopefully).**

* * *

Before she knew it, Gabriella was at her mother's house lugging her suite case and USC Trojan's duffle bag full of presents up to her bedroom. Her mother didn't appear to be home, so she helped herself in the house using the garage door opener. After putting her bags in her room, she went downstairs to find the phone to try and call her mother's cell phone. Letting the phone ring and ring and ring, assuming her mother had gone to the grocery store, she walked over to the couch and sat down to watch some television. Her mother couldn't have gone far, knowing she would be home soon. Looking around she instantly noticed some new changes to the house that hadn't been there when she last visited in the summer. Noticing the smaller things such as the throw pillows on the couch and some picture frames she was shocked when she looked outside to see that the patio had been fitted with benches lined around the edge of the patio, each about three feet long and flower pots fitted in between each one, bringing instant color to their once dull back yard. Her mother had also apparently finally figured out how to mow the properly, considering there were no splotches of overgrown grass around the yard.

Looking back down at the phone that was still in her hand, she saw that her mother had an unheard voice mail. Thinking that her mother had maybe called after getting caught up at the grocery store or Target or something, she pressed number two to hear the voice mail.

"_Maria, it's Marcus, I got your call and I think that Thursday would work to meet Gabriella. Jenny has a basketball tournament that day but it should be over by five. Does seven sound okay? Call me back, bye."_

Marcus, had her mother mentioned anyone named Marcus before? Trying to think, she couldn't remember anyone named Marcus. Who was this guy and why was he wanting to meet her? Settling back down on the couch she waited until she heard the door open.

"Gabi? Are you in here honey?" Maria shouted into her house, she had seen Gabriella's car in the driveway but she wasn't sure if she was in the house or out in the backyard.

"Mama!" Gabriella shouted, happy to see her mother she walked over to the kitchen and hugged her mother after she had set down some grocery bags.

"I missed you so much Gabi," The last time Maria had seen Gabriella was when Maria had driven up to Colorado for Thanksgiving.

"Me too Mama, me too," Letting go from the hug, the duo began to put away the groceries.

"So, how long ago did you get here?" Maria asked, she had only been gone for a half an hour, at the most, and she somehow managed to miss Gabriella's arrival.

"A couple minutes only. I saw what you did to the patio, it looks nice."

"Well, I thought the yard looked kind of plain and needed some sprucing up." Maria realized she hadn't informed Gabriella of any of the household changes she had made, especially the benches and flowerpots that Marcus had made a few months ago.

"Oh, when did you get it done? Who did it for you?" Gabriella was still curious as to why her mother had suddenly decided that the backyard needed some 'sprucing up' and who the Marcus guy was.

"I, uh, I had a friend make it for me." Maria answered semi-truthfully. She still didn't know how she was going to tell Gabriella about her new boyfriend.

"So, who's Marcus?" Gabriella decided to bluntly ask, knowing her mother was hiding something from her.

Maria closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards. How on Earth had Gabriella figure out her boyfriends name already? Why was she questioning who he was? "Why, I mean how do you find out about Marcus?"

"Well, he called while you were out and left a voicemail. He said Thursday would work to meet _me. _He was wondering if seven would be okay, and wants _you_ to call him back." Gabriella raised her eyebrows at her mother, she _had _been hiding something from her.

"Okay, I will call him back soon." Maria was hoping that by saying that Gabriella wouldn't question her anymore.

"No, no way are you avoiding this mother, who is this Marcus guy?" Gabriella was going to find out what was happening.

"Marcus is a friend. We meet at a barbeque and we're friends." Why wouldn't Gabriella let this go? It wasn't that big of a deal. Well, maybe it was but she wanted to tell Gabriella after she had time to think about how she was going to tell her.

"Right, a friend that updated your patio and wants to meet me? Come on Mama, you can tell me." Gabriella knew there was something else to the story. Her mother was not going to introduce her to a simple 'friend.' Especially a guy 'friend.'

"Fine, if you must know, Marcus is my boyfriend," Maria wanted to get this conversation over with now. She knew the longer she kept it from her daughter, the more mad she would get. "We've been together a few months now and I thought that maybe you should meet him at some point, so why not now? I mean, you don't come home very often and we have gotten fairly close and he's the only man that I have wanted you to meet ever since the divorce but I didn't know how to-"

"Mom, stop rambling," Gabriella smiled, her mother thought she'd be mad, "So, how long?"

Blushing slightly, Maria was now embarrassed at her actions. She had been rambling, which didn't happen very often. "How long what?"

"How long have you two been dating?" Gabriella was very interested in when this man had entered her mother's life and how long it had taken him to get her to the point of blushing.

"Since September," Maria, now bright red, was not used to sharing the details of _her _love life. It always seemed to be Gabriella who would talk about her relationship.

"And you already got him wrapped around your finger?" Gabriella smirked at her mother who didn't seem particularly interested in sharing details of her newfound relationship. "Damn, you've got him fixing the house and mowing the lawn in four months. Impressive." Gabriella had no interest to stop teasing her mother. "So, tell me about this guy. What does he do, where does he live, and does he have any kids?"

Sighing, Maria caved because she knew Gabriella was actually interested in finding out more about Marcus. "He works as a research scientist at a hospital, he lives about ten minutes away, and he has two kids in high school, anything else you would like to pry into?"

"I'm not prying, I'm simply curious as to who this guy is. I'm quite shocked that you found a man."

"Hey now, I'm not that much of an old lady, I can still have fun." Maria knew Gabriella didn't mean it that way, but she wanted to pick on Gabriella a little bit in return.

"It's not that Mama, it's just you never mentioned any dates or anything about men at all. I am happy for you though. You deserve to have someone that cares about you after all these years." Gabriella knew her mother was a strong woman, but sometimes she felt that sometimes her mom might want someone to take care of her and support her. After she had moved out, Gabriella always feared her mom would get lonely in their house. She was excited that her mom had finally met a decent man.

"So, Thursday night at seven is fine with you? I'll have Marcus and his kids come over for dinner?" Maria asked wanting to call Marcus back to confirm their plans.

"Sounds good. When do you want to leave for the Bolton's?" Gabriella wanted to squeeze in as much time with them as possible.

Deciding that since it was about six o'clock that leaving in an hour would give her enough time to get ready Maria decided on leaving in an hour. "Is an hour good with you? I want to finish putting this food away and then get ready."

"Perfect, I'll call Lucille and tell her we'll be there at seven."

* * *

Maria and Gabriella had driven to the Bolton's and parked their car on the street in front of the house after seeing the Bolton men doing what they do best, playing basketball, in the driveway. Walking up during the intense game, Gabriella smirked as Matt was holding the basketball in his hand, high above Liam's head. Deciding to help out the little kid, Gabriella ran and jumped on Matt's back, startling him, which caused him to drop the ball.

"That's no fair! It's cheating! Gabriella you can't do that!" Mason immediately shouted. Well, now she knew what the teams were.

Almost immediately after that all the Bolton men were hugging her, each one with a decent amount of sweat. Not really caring about the sweat she hugged each and every one of them with excitement. Jack was the last one to hug her and he whispered in her ear, "You okay?"

"Better than I've been in a while." She answered back to him. Smiling as he let go of her, she was quick to ask, "So where's my little niece Matt? I have a feeling that she's twice as cute as she was in the Christmas card."

Matt grinned larger than Gabriella thought possible, "Inside with Mom and Julia. She's so adorable, she's started smiling and is finally getting into somewhat of a sleep pattern."

"Well, I have to see her. You boys better be cleaned up for dinner soon though. I refuse for you guys to ruin my Mac and cheese with your stench." Gabriella knew they were dying to finish their game so she headed into the house with her mother.

"Lucille? We're here!" Gabriella shouted once she opened the door and headed toward the kitchen knowing Lucille would meet her half way wearing the pink apron she gotten a few years ago on her birthday.

"Gabi, honey, it's so good to see you!" Lucille hugged her and grabbed her hands looking her over for any changes she would obviously notice. "Gosh, every time I see you, you get so much more beautiful. I wish I had half the beauty you have."

"Lucille, are you kidding me? You look fantastic too! As much as I love standing in the hallway, I believe there's a member of the Bolton family I have yet to meet." Gabriella had gotten Matt, Julia, and little Sophia's Christmas card in the mail a few weeks ago and ever since she'd been wanting to see the little one in person for the first time. Her mother and all of the Bolton's, except Troy, had obviously meet the little girl and Gabriella felt a little left out that she hadn't been able to see her at the hospital like the rest of whom she considered her family. Although, that was one thing she would have to deal with living in Colorado.

"Gosh Gabi, she's just perfect. She's got the cutest little nose, blonde hair, and blue eyes." Lucille beamed talking about her first grandchild. With the rate at which Gabriella and Troy's relationship had been going, Lucille thought that Troy and Gabriella would grace her with the gift of her first grandchild. Even though Matt and Julia had gotten married before Troy left, Lucille always pictured Gabriella and Troy having a baby at this point in their lives. Some things change everything though, don't they? She loved having the little baby around though. Lucille seemed to radiate maternal powers at all times and loved taking care of people.

Walking into the kitchen, Gabriella saw Julia sitting at the counter with a little bundle of what looked like mostly consisted of pink blankets. Smiling softly at her future sister-in-law she said in a quiet tone, "Hey Julia. How are you?"

"Tired, I'm hanging in there though. How are you?" Julia and Matt had meet the summer after Matt graduated college and they had now been together almost five years. Julia was a quiet girl from Arizona and seemed to be the complete opposite of Matt. Gabriella had meet her while she was on summer break from college the first time Matt had brought her to the Bolton's for dinner. Currently, they were living in Arizona but would often travel to New Mexico to be with family.

"I'm hanging in there too. Can I hold her?" Gabriella was very anxious to hold the little baby. She was getting to the age where some of her friends were getting married and a few were having children. The thought of babies and weddings made Gabriella desperately want to start her own family. That would have to wait though, Troy would need to get home safe before she started thinking about those things. They'd discussed their future plans a little bit, but not much. Both knew they wanted to have kids, but neither knew how many or when. It was difficult to think about their plans for a wedding and kids because she knew if she got too attached to something that may not happen, her heart would break even more thinking of what their wedding would have been like or what their kids would have looked like.

"Of course." Julia handed the little bundle to Gabriella who looked down at the tiny baby. There was something about holding a tiny little baby in your arms, knowing that to someone this little thing was their entire life. Looking at the tiny baby, it was hard to picture her growing up, going to kindergarten, graduating college, and getting married herself. It was hard to imagine that this little baby would one day be a beautiful women herself.

"She's beautiful." Gabriella really was in awe. She had missed the family moment when they would all get together and cry over the new born. Gabriella hoped that someday she would be holding a little baby in her arms, her own baby though. As much as she already loved her little niece, there was no doubt, that when the time was right, she would be holding her own life in her arms.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, once again thank you for all the reviews!**

**And yes, there is another flashback because I feel like there is an absence to be filled with the lack of Troy right now. I feel like the story needs some Troy in it right now so the flashbacks will pop up when I feel like I need a little romance in the story.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

It was now Thursday, the twenty-first of December. Gabriella had spent the previous day shopping with some friends from high school. She'd been enjoying herself and relaxing while she had the time off of work. She liked waking up late and walking around in her pajama's while drinking a mug of coffee. Gabriella had never liked coffee nearly as much as Troy. In high school the mere smell of coffee disgusted her and Troy had always made sure to brush his teeth before going to school because Gabriella would never kiss him if his breath smelled like coffee. In college, she had only drank coffee occasionally. Most of the times she opted for an iced coffee during finals to help keep her awake while she was cramming. It wasn't until Troy and her moved in together that she had really started to drink coffee. Troy always had a pot brewed early in the morning.

Her mother had taken Thursday and Friday off of work and the two planned to treat themselves to manicures and pedicures while having a mother/daughter day before they started to make dinner for tonight when Gabriella would finally meet her mother's new boyfriend. Hearing the water turn off upstairs, indicating the end of her mother's shower, Gabriella descended up the stairs to take a shower and prepare herself for the rest of the day. She grabbed a towel from the closet in the hallway and her clothes and undergarments for the day. After starting the shower she stripped her clothes off her body. Every time she took her clothes off she always thought about the stretigically placed tattoo that was on her pelvis. Only one person knew of her tattoo, the person who had a matching one.

_A few weeks ago Troy Bolton had returned home from work like normal. He'd parked his car, like he normally did. He took the elevator up to the fourth floor of the apartment complex, like he normally did. He walked into his apartment and had given his fiancé a kiss, like he normally did. He proceeded through to the kitchen to open the mail, like he normally did. He'd opened a letter from the government that day, informing him of his draft in the war. At the moment in time, he didn't know what to do. He was going to have to leave his comfortable life and go to war halfway across the world in Afghanistan._

_So how did that explain why he was lying on his stomach with a needle stabbing him in his back? He was going to be leaving in ten days. He only had ten days left with the woman he loved. He didn't know if, after those ten days, he'd ever see her again. They had decided not to get married before he left, opting to have the perfect ceremony they'd always wanted after he would return from war. He would return from war, no matter what Gabriella or anyone else thought, he _would _return. He promised Gabriella he would return from war and that they would get married and live happily ever after. In the eighteen years he had known Gabriella, he hadn't broken one promise. He certainly had no intention in breaking one now._

_Tomorrow they would leave to go back to Albuquerque to visit his family for a week. They would spend the time at his parent's house and return to their apartment for one last night together. Today the two had decided to stay in bed together and simply be in each other's presence, for the last time. After a while the two had come up with an idea. Since they were not going to marry before he left, they would get matching tattoos. It was like wearing a permanent wedding band, they would always have a part of each other with them._

_After arriving at a tattoo parlor, the two had decided on the Chinese symbol for the word 'strength.' Undoubtably, Troy would need physical strength while at war, but both of them would need emotional strength during the next couple of years in their lives. Gabriella had volunteered Troy to go first. He settled on getting the tattoo on his right shoulder blade. The pain was harsh, but Troy had never been that afraid of needles and after a while the area went numb. When his turn was up he got off the angled bed and switched places with Gabriella. She had been full of surprises that day. She had been the one to recommend the idea of getting matching tattoos and when he heard her say where she wanted her tattoo his mouth had simply dropped. She claimed that she didn't want the tattoo in a visible place. She was a mature woman and if she was going to get a tattoo, it was going to be located where no one would be able to see it. She'd decided one getting it on her pelvis because, even if she were to wear a bikini, no one would be able to see it. She certainly had no intent on letting anyone see anything below the waist of her pants, except for Troy, so it would be a safe place to get her tattoo. And it would bring an added sex appeal to her body that Troy would not be able to resist. Somehow this woman still managed to surprise him._

_Laying down on the bad Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and squeezed his hand tightly. Her worry was communicated simply through the look in her eyes. That had been happening a lot during the past few days. Their emotions were more easily shown through the look in each other's eyes and body motions than through spoken words._

_Closing her eyes, Gabriella took a deep breath before a man she had never meet before started to permanently draw on her body. Troy leaned down and kissed her forehead in reassurance. Knowing that many people regret tattoos in their future, Troy knew that Gabriella and him never would. It was something they did together and there was no way either of them would regret anything they had ever done together._

* * *

Gabriella and Maria returned from their mini spa day around five o'clock to begin cooking dinner. Maria was beginning to become more and more nervous that Gabriella wouldn't like her new boyfriend. She felt like a teenager again, bringing home her boyfriend to meet her parents for the first. Only this time, she was a lot older and was waiting for the approval of her daughter. She herself had only had to deal with meeting two boyfriends before Gabriella started dating Troy. That was over ten years ago now and she didn't know what she was doing.

"Don't be nervous," Gabriella could somehow read her mind at times. Maria had no clue how she did it, but Gabriella could always see right through her. "I have no doubts that this Marcus guy is incredible Mama. If you want me to meet him, I know he's a good man and that I'll like him."

Gabriella really had no idea what her mom was going through. Gabriella had been in a steady relationship with the same man for almost ten years now. She knew her mother approved of Troy and had no nervousness when bringing him to dinner for the first time after they had gotten together. She couldn't imagine bringing a man home to meet her family after having been single for almost for fourteen years now. It wasn't that her mother had willingly been single, it was that she couldn't seem to find anyone that lived up to the standards set by her ex-husband, pre accident and affair obviously, and Gabriella had been her main focus in life.

After setting the home made lasagna in the oven, they went upstairs to change into clean clothes and fix their hair and makeup. As she was putting in a pair of earrings to match her black dress, Gabriella heard the doorbell ring. It was 6:57, Marcus was early. That was always a good sign. Maria opened the door and Gabriella could see a dark haired man about six inches taller than her mother lean down to kiss her cheek from upstairs. She descended down the stairs about two minutes later and walking into the kitchen, she caught a better glimpse of the man that had stolen her mother's heart in less than four months. He was just short of six feet, probably just short of Troy's height. He had a naturally dark skin tone, he probably had some Mexican genes in him like her mother. He was very handsome for his age and he obviously had worked to prevent a beer belly from forming. His smile was large and friendly and he seemed to have that special glint in his eyes that made him look like he radiated happiness. She'd seen that look before many times. It was the way Jack looked at Lucille, the way Matt looked at Julia, and the way that Troy looked at her. That kind of happiness could only be produced between two people in love. Her mother had won the lottery with this man.

Walking closer to the group of people, Gabriella coughed to make her appearance noticeable. "Gabi this Marcus, Marcus this is Gabriella."

Marcus reached out to hug her. Gabriella was always a fan of people who would rather greet someone with a hug than a handshake. "It's nice to finally meet you, your mother has told me a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you too." Gabriella could already tell this guy was a good person and would treat her mother right.

"These are my kids, Jenny and Christopher." Waving at them Gabriella smiled, they were cute too.

"Hi," Turning her attention back to the clock over her shoulder, she realized that the lasagna should be ready by now. "Mom, I'm going to check on the lasagna."

Opening the oven, a burst of smell came out and she smiled at it. She would definitely have to make this at home sometime. Pulling it out and setting it in a cooling rack on the counter, Gabriella let her mom finish talking to her boyfriend and took out some plates, silverware, and napkins. When they walked back in the kitchen she decided she should make some small talk and maybe that would lead to some deeper conversations eventually. "So, I heard you had a basketball tournament to go to today. How did that go?"

"It went well, Jenny's team placed second in the tournament." Basketball always seemed to be a safe topic in Gabriella's life.

"That's great. What school do you two go to?" If they went to East High, there was no doubt they would know Jack, especially since Jenny played basketball.

"We go to south." Christopher answered.

"I went to east. My fiancé's father is the basketball coach there." Since they went to south, they had probably heard about East High's superior basketball program, even though south was more of a football rival to east.

"They have a really good team, always have. Every year they seem to win state. I play on the JV team at south." Christopher, like most teenage boys, was fascinated with sports.

"So, did you play any sports in high school Gabriella?" Marcus continued with the same topic. He didn't want to pry too much into her life, knowing about her situation. He didn't want to screw up the first time he met her.

"I ran track and played golf. I was more of a spectator than a player. Anything that involve doing two things at one time, I was not good at." Gabriella had been completely intent sitting on the sidelines watching her friends in high school. She had messed around playing pick up games of basketball at Troy's house, but nothing had ever amounted out of it. "Mom though, was an allstar soccer player in high school. She went to the state championship two years in a row."

"Really now." Marcus raised his eyebrow's at Maria. They had only known each other for four months and hadn't discussed their high school lives that much at this point. Sure they'd shared a few embarrassing moments from their teenage years but high school was so far in the past that most of what happened back then seemed insignificant now.

"Oh yeah, she was amazing. She was their leading scorer and was MVP for two years in a row." Gabriella smiled sweetly at her mother. Their chat was comfortable but Gabriella could tell that Marcus knew about Troy being at war and was nervous to show any sort of affection because he didn't want Gabriella to be jealous. At first Gabriella had been jealous of other couples that she saw together and she still was a little bit, but she knew it came with the territory and figured out how to deal with it. "So, should we dish up and head to the dining room?"

"It smells, _really _good." Typical teenagers, Gabriella thought, always wanting food. Obviously Christopher was no different.

As they sat down at the table and ate, they continued to talk and learn more about each other. Marcus was a single father, his wife had left him after Christopher was born. She had wanted more freedom and time to "go out and dance." Neither of the kids really remembered much about their mother. Jenny had had a boyfriend for three months now and Christopher had a date planned sometime during their winter break.

"So, does anyone want to walk down the street and get some ice cream?" Marcus had offered, "My treat."

"Sounds great." They all stood up and brought their plates to the sink where Marcus helped Maria wash the plates while Gabriella, Jenny, and Christopher went outside and waited for the two to finish.

The five of them continued talking on their walk down to the ice cream parlor. Gabriella had been there many times with Troy. They always ordered one cone with cookie dough ice cream and another one with brownie fudge. They would sit down and Troy would start eating the cookie dough cone, Gabriella the brownie fudge, when the reached the cone they would switch and eat the rest of the other's ice cream.

Walking into the store Gabriella saw Mason sitting in the back with a girl. It must have been the girl Liam had mentioned on the phone a few days ago. Smiling, she waved at him but didn't want to interrupt so she stayed with her group. "Is that his girlfriend Lucille told me about?"

"I think so." Gabriella wasn't positive but it sure looked like they were together. Looking back at her mother for the first time since beginning their walk, Gabriella noticed that Marcus and her were holding hands. Gabriella winked at her mother and Maria stuck her tongue out at Gabriella in return. Laughing, they began to order their ice cream, Gabriella deciding on cookie dough and Maria decided on Strawberry.

After they finished their ice cream and walked home, Jenny and Christopher got into the car after hugging Gabriella and Maria and Marcus walked them to the door. Stepping inside, Gabriella quickly thanked Marcus for the ice cream and said goodbye. She ran up the stairs to her hiding spot and watched as Marcus gently kissed her mother goodnight. They hugged and kissed one more time before Marcus said his farewell and left to get in his car. Gabriella felt like she switched roles with her mother, who had probably done the same thing many times when Troy had left their house after spending the evening with them. She rushed to her room and closed the door before Maria could catch her eavesdropping.

She heard her mother knocking on the door. "Gabi, can I come in?"

"Sure, Mama." She pretended like she was going to get her pajama's ready to change into.

"What do you think?" Maria wanted an honest response. If her daughter had large doubts about her relationship she would have to rethink some things.

"I think he's nice. He was nervous to mention anything about Troy, that shows he's sensitive and didn't want to hurt my feelings. He has good kids too. He helped you wash the dishes, Mama. That's got to say something. Not every man willingly does the dishes." Gabriella smiled, her mom was still nervous after the wonderful night they just had.

"Good. I thought you'd like him." Maria had crossed her fingers that Gabriella would like Marcus. She didn't know what she would do if Gabriella hadn't approved of him. "So, do you want to change and then we can go downstairs and watch a movie?"

"Sounds great Mama."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Turns out that you can't do much gymnastics or figure skating with a broken ankle. I have had more free time than I've had in three years.**

**These chapters just keep getting longer and longer. I start writing and it doesn't feel like I can stop. That must be a good thing.**

**Once again, thank you to all my reviewers. I honestly don't know if I'm supposed to reply to them or not or if I'm just supposed to reply to questions. If you feel like it, tell me whether you want me to reply to my reviews or not :)**

**Also, feel free to mention if you are getting sick of all the stuff between Gabriella and the Bolton's. I will honestly take your opinions to heart. I'm just not sure if it is getting to be too much time with the Bolton family.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a copy of ju_s_t about every Nicholas Spark's novels.**

Gabriella had been enjoying spending time with her mother. She would always forget after such large separations that she would always need her mom. Just because she had moved out of the house and had a job didn't mean that Gabriella wouldn't need her mother every once in a while.

Being in her hometown had created two different reactions. Being at home had distracted her from missing Troy. She was able to keep busy and was able to see so many people that she had missed dearly. The bad thing was, it seemed everywhere she went she had some sort of memory with Troy there. When she went to the diner Troy and her had occasionally eaten lunch at, she sat at the table they had always sat at. The waitress always remembered her and had even asked if she and Troy had gotten married yet. Some people that she had ran into from high school still weren't aware of Troy being in Afghanistan. It always hurt her having to explain where Troy was. She didn't like the looks of pity people gave her, which is why she was so reluctant to tell people about Troy's draft to Afghanistan.

Liam had called her earlier in the morning wanting a ride to the mall so that he could buy presents for his family without anyone knowing. Having no plans for the day, Gabriella agreed and she was currently making the short drive to the Bolton household. Pulling her car into the driveway, she put the car in park and walked in the front door. She had been walking into the house without knocking since she was eight. Smelling something good, she walked into the kitchen. Liam, Jack, and Lucille were the only ones in the kitchen surprisingly. Knowing how men were with food, she expected to see everyone in the kitchen eating the pancakes she saw on the counter.

"Where is everybody?" She was really confused as to why it was only the four of them in the kitchen.

"Sleeping. Sophie has been keeping everyone awake." Jack himself looked like he had bags under his eyes. The only person who didn't appear to be tired was Lucille, she had spent many nights awake in her time and a few nights wasn't enough time to affect her. "How are you Gabi? We haven't had much time to talk since you got here."

"Good, better than I was doing in Colorado." Gabriella had been having a great time. It just would have been better if Troy were with her. "I was wondering if I could read that letter you said Troy sent to you. I haven't gotten anything for a while."

Lucille smiled at Gabriella. Troy had mentioned in the letter no one was to read his or her section of the letter until Christmas. "Nope, you can't read it until Christmas, sorry honey." Lucille had been the only one to read of the letter Troy had written. He specifically wanted her to be the only one to read it because it included details of the present he had requested his mother get for Gabriella. Just because he was on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, didn't mean he wasn't going to fiancé a gift for Christmas.

Rolling her eyes, "Troy and his stupid surprises." She complained about Troy's surprises all the time. He would tease her to no end about the surprises that he would plan. Despite her complaining, she really loved his surprises. They never failed to live up to her expectations. "Ready to leave then Liam?"

"Yeah, just let me run upstairs and get my wallet." He put his plate in the sink and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Thanks for taking him Gabi. You really didn't have to." Lucille had been surprised that Liam had wanted Gabriella to take him shopping at the mall. She could sense that he was starting to miss his brother. She knew from experience that men had no interest in expressing their emotions. Liam was not only dealing with puberty, he was also dealing with his brother being in the army while living in a house filled with testosterone.

"I wanted to. I haven't been able to spend much time with any of you guys. Liam and I will have fun today." Gabriella was excited that Liam wanted to see her. He was starting to be more and more like Troy.

"He misses Troy. We all do, but lately Liam has seemed to be having a difficult time with him being away." Lucille hated to see anyone in her family sad about Troy, of course she missed him too, she just hated that there was nothing she could do to fix the problem.

"That's what I thought when he asked me to take him shopping. I knew there was a reason he asked me to take him." As the last few months of Troy's deployment kept going, everyone was feeling the strain. Knowing that any day they could receive the call they had been waiting for made them all emotional and sensitive.

"I'm ready Gabi." Liam bounced down the stairs again and walked over to kiss Lucille on the cheek. Yes, Liam resembled Troy more and more everyday.

"Okay, let's get this show on the road." Gabriella took her keys back out of her purse and headed toward the front door again. "See you later Lucille! You too Coach!"

"Have fun!" She heard Lucille and Coach shout from the kitchen. Hopefully they would have some fun and she would be able to get something out of Liam and why he was feeling so down lately.

Opening the door, she slid into the driver's seat and Liam slid into the passenger's seat. Turning the car on, she turned the radio down a little bit so they could talk. "So, to the mall?"

"Sure, that sounds good." Liam was thankful that Gabriella had agreed to take him shopping. At first he was a little nervous to ask her to bring him shopping for his family but he thought maybe they could talk for a while. Like the rest of his family, he knew that Gabriella was the closest they were going to get to being around Troy and he was going to use that to his advantage now that she was here.

"So, who do you need to shop for? Putting off Christmas shopping until the last minute seems like something your brother would do." She wanted to mention Troy so that Liam knew he could talk about Troy with her.

"My mom and dad. I got Mason and Matt something already. I have no clue what to get mom and dad though, I thought you could help me." Liam hadn't put all his Christmas shopping off until the last minute, he'd done some but now he needed something for his parents. He didn't just want to get them something lame like he always did, he wanted to get his parents something that they would appreciate. He just didn't know where to start with that though.

"Of course I can help you. Do you have any ideas of what you want to get?" Gabriella wanted to help him find something.

"None. I just don't want to get them something lame like I always do." Liam was starting to mature and he wanted his parents to know he could get them something good. It was tough being the baby of the family. Your older siblings always seemed to accomplish more and you weren't able to keep up.

"Liam, you know your parents will appreciate anything you get them, right? They will appreciate that you put in the effort and money to get them something, the quality of it doesn't matter." Gabriella caught on to him. He wanted to prove he wasn't a little boy anymore. All of his brothers had gone through a period around his age where they wanted to prove their growing maturity.

"I know, I'm just sick of being the baby in the family." It wasn't that he was the youngest of the family, it was the rate at which his brother's were growing up. Matt was married and had a kid, Troy was at war, and Mason had had a steady girlfriend for the past few months, and here he was playing video games and basketball with his friends just like he had the rest of his life. He wasn't moving forward and that was part of his frustration at the moment.

"Liam, everyone goes through a time in their life where they want to grow up. I went through it, Troy went through it, and Matt went through it. You clearly aren't a baby anymore and your time will come to do mature things. Don't worry about growing up right now." Gabriella knew there was more to the story but she wanted to provide as much advice as she possibly could. Pulling into the parking lot, they got out of the car and headed toward the entrance of the building. "So, where should we go first? Do you want to go Barnes and Noble? Your mom loves to read, we could find something there if you want."

"Okay, I don't know much about adult books though." His mom did like to read, if he got her a book it was something that could last her a while and that she could reread if she wanted.

"That's why I'm here." Heading into the large bookstore they walked into various aisles. Nothing seemed to stand out to either one of them. Walking into one of the aisles at the very back, they passed a Nicholas Spark's section. Gabriella picked up a few books and read their descriptions. After reading two summaries, she picked up _Dear John, _reading the back cover she instantly felt an attachment to the book, it was about war letters. She handed the book to Liam to read the back cover to get his approval. Picking up a few more, the grabbed _The Lucky One, _about a soldier who survived three tours of duty. Once Liam finished reading the cover of _Dear John, _she handed him _The Lucky One. _"So, what do you think?"

"I think Mom would really like them." Smiling, he knew they would be tough books for his mom to read, but they had a deeper meaning. His mother's son was risking his life at war, these books would show that he had put some thought into her present. "Should I get them both?"

"If you want to. It's your decision." Gabriella knew that this was as close to a perfect present that Liam would be able to find for his mother.

"I'm going to get both of them. It would be too hard to choose between the two." Liam knew Gabriella would help him pick out the perfect present for his mother.

After paying for the books, Gabriella and Liam had continued the search to find something for Jack. This would be tricky. They had finally settled on getting him a Laker's jersey. They were his favorite basketball team.

They decided to head to the food court for some Jamba Juice. Gabriella paid for Liam's drink and the two sat down. "So, I think we did a good job."

"Yeah, we did Gabi. Thanks for helping me. I don't think anyone else's brother's girlfriend would take them shopping." Liam didn't want the day to end but he wanted Gabriella to know that he had appreciated the time they spent together.

"If you want to you can come over and wrap those presents at my house, I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind if you stayed for dinner." Gabriella really wanted to let Liam get his feelings out.

"Really?" Liam was surprised that Gabriella wanted to continue hanging out with him. He was thinking that Gabriella thought it was strange that he wanted to hang out with her.

"Sure, I mean, if you bring those home, you are going to have to hide them until you wrap them. If you're anything like your brother, you are also probably a terrible wrapper. I could help you out." She loved that she was able to have such a close bond with Troy's family.

"Thanks Gabi." They stood up, grabbed their bags and headed to the car. Driving toward her house they continued with their friendly conversation. Upon arrival they grabbed their bags and went upstairs. Her mother wasn't home so she grabbed some wrapping paper from a storage closet.

"So, do you want bags or paper?" Gabriella walked into her room where Liam was already seated on the floor.

"Bags are probably easier." Liam knew that if he even touched the wrapping paper it would all end up in a massive ball with tape wrapped around it.

They sat in silence for a while. "So, how is school?"

"It's fine. You know, it's school," Liam smiled, "I get to see my friends, but there is a lot of work to get down."

"Sounds like school. How's basketball? You playing Varsity yet?" Gabriella knew that Liam probably wasn't playing varsity yet since he was only an eighth grader but Matt, Liam, and Mason had all played on the junior varsity team in eighth grade.

"JV right now. Hopefully next year I'll play varsity." Just like his brothers, he was a basketball fanatic. In their family they played ball all the time it seemed.

"Troy made varsity when he was a freshman." Gabriella wanted to lead into a conversation that involved Troy.

"Yeah, Matt and Mason didn't though. I think Troy was probably the best ball player out of all of us." Troy probably was. He had played basketball in college and had offers to play professionally.

"If you work hard, maybe you will be as good as him," Gabriella smiled at the young boy. What kid didn't want to be like their older sibling?

"I want to be like Troy when I grow up." Liam expressed his wishes.

"Why?" Gabriella knew Troy was admirable. "Do you want to join the army?"

"No, Troy is just a good person. I want to be as strong as him when I grow up." Liam admired the strength Troy had, not physically, mentally. It took a strong person to leave his home and family behind.

"He is a good person. That's one of the reasons I want to marry him." Gabriella was going to get Liam to say whatever was on his mind.

"Do you miss him?" Liam looked up from wrapping his presents to see Gabriella's face when she spoke.

"I miss him all the time. There is not a second that goes by I don't wish he were here. Do you miss him?" Gabriella could tell Liam's eyes were starting to get teary.

"Yeah, I miss him a lot. It's been a long time since I've seen him." Liam let a tear fall finally. He'd been holding this in for a long time.

"It's okay to cry every once in a while Liam." Gabriella reached out and rubbed his back gently.

"I feel like a baby crying. No one cries at home about this." Liam knew his parents and brothers missed Troy but they didn't talk much about it.

"You don't know that. They all cry once in a while. What makes you want to cry though?"

"I just get scared that he won't get home." More tears fell down Liam's face as he said this.

"We're all afraid of that, but we have to think positively." Scooting closer to him, she wrapped her arm around the young boy. "Trust me, I worry about that all the time, but we need to stay positive. Troy has made it so long through the war and we only have, at most, a few months before he comes home. Think about how happy everyone will be when he comes home. He knows we all love him, and he will always remember that."

Liam stayed silent. He knew it was probably harder on Gabriella. After some moments of silence he spoke up again. "Do you ever regret anything? Do you ever wish you had said something to him before he left?"

Thinking about how she was going to respond to this question she took a few moments to process his question. "Honestly, no I don't. Of course I wish I had had more time to talk and got the chance to tell him I love him one more time, but no matter what time he left at, I will always want one more chance. I don't regret anything because Troy and I love each other. Any words we've said to each other, good or bad, have shaped our relationship."

Wanting to tell someone about what he had been thinking about lately, Liam decided to confide in Gabriella. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a bad brother."

Gabriella pulled him in for a hug. The poor kid thought he was a bad brother. "Liam, you aren't a bad brother. Just by hearing all these things you are telling me, shows you aren't a bad brother."

"I didn't like Troy leaving when he had been arguing so much. All me and my brothers seemed to do until Troy left was argue and pick on each other."

"All siblings do that though. It would be weird if you didn't pick on each other and argue. That in no way makes you a bad brother." The young boy was confused and maturing. He wanted to stop fighting with his brothers. After having Troy been gone for so long, he was starting to realize the true concept of family.

"I wish he knew how much we missed him." Liam really wanted Troy to know that he was missing him. After almost two years, he was beginning to get separation anxiety.

"You know what? He knows how much we miss him. Despite how much we miss him, he misses us ten times more. He has a whole family waiting at home for him that he doesn't want to disappoint. He isn't just fighting for our country, he's fighting for us. He is fighting for his opportunity to see me and you and everyone else he cares about." It was true, if Troy went to Afghanistan and didn't fight, he would not only be letting down his country, but himself. That was a lot of pressure for a twenty five year old to deal with.

"Thanks for talking with me Gabi. You are already a great sister." Liam took one final swipe at his eyes as Gabriella removed her arm from his shoulder.

"Anytime Liam, seriously I'm just a phone call away." This was quite the talk they'd had. She thought that he would take her up on the offer sometime. "So, should we order some pizza and then I'll take you home?"

"Pepperoni with sausage?" Liam stupidly asked. It was the Bolton family's favorite type of pizza.

"What other kind is there?" Gabriella smiled; he was certainly developing into a mini Troy. He had always seemed like the more sensitive one between him and his four brothers. Troy had fallen in love with her when they were really young. It wasn't a teenage love; it was a lifelong love that only a few people will ever experience. Troy had always confided in her and expressed the emotions he felt that he couldn't share with anyone. He was a sweet man and always showed affection for her. Gabriella knew that Troy would protect her if it meant risking his life. Much like Gabriella depended on Troy, Troy depended on Gabriella. She had been there for him almost his whole life. She wondered everyday how he was surviving by himself, because she could barely manage her own pain.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello again! Had a bunch of time to update thanks to the snow day.**

**As always, thanks for reviewing! They just keep coming and coming.**

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

Christmas was getting closer and closer as the days went on. With only two days left until the much anticipated holiday, Gabriella had nothing left to do in preparation. She had her shopping done and her presents wrapped. It was mid-afternoon on Saturday and her mother had gone to eat lunch with Marcus. The two were going to meet up with Jack and Lucille at a restaurant for a double date.

Nothing seemed to satisfy Gabriella's quest for something to do. She had gone on a run around eleven and taken a shower afterward. Until a few minutes ago she had been reading a book, but she just couldn't seem to get into it. From her spot on the couch, she could see a photo album on the shelf of a storage unit. She couldn't remember seeing the book before. Walking over and picking it up, she saw a picture of her and Troy on the front cover. Opening the book, she noticed all the pictures were of Troy and herself. A couple of the pictures had other people in them, but the thing every picture had in common was she and Troy.

Realizing how much she had forgotten, she took her time looking at each page. There were pictures of them with ice cream dripping down their faces at age eight, awkward teen pictures in which they were trying to be cool, cute pictures of them in high school, and pictures of them discovering themselves in their college years. One picture particularly stood out to her. She was wearing a red knee length dress and a long white cardigan that was accented with simple silver jewelry. Thinking back, she thought she would've looked perfect if she would have had the ruby necklace Troy gave her for her seventeenth birthday. She was sitting on the couch resting her head on Troy's shoulder and Troy had tilted his own head to lean on hers.

_Gabriella was sitting on the Bolton's couch with her legs tucked underneath her. It was Christmas day and she had just arrived at her boyfriend's family's house. Her mother and Lucille were in the kitchen putting the ham in the oven and Jack Bolton was outside playing with his rambunxious four and six year old kids. Matt had been in the kitchen eating and went to go find Troy for her. Apparently he was in the basement, probably playing video games. While she was waiting for them, she'd sat down on the couch in her red dress._

_To most the red dress may not have seemed like anything special. It wasn't quite knee length but wasn't too short and had a low cut neckline, but was still appropriate for Christmas. She had put on a silver necklace that had stars layered on two different strands that reached down to the beginning of her cleavage that was emphasized by the push up bra she had only worn once before. Her mother had been slightly shocked by the low cut of the dress but hadn't mentioned anything. Gabriella wasn't one to show off the curves of her body, but that night she wanted to make a point to Troy._

_Troy had kissed her for the first time approximately five months ago. They had both been sixteen and were caught up in the heat of the summer, literally. They had been hesitant to start a relationship, not wanting to loose their ten-year friendship if anything were to go wrong._

_After starting their relationship, their emotional connection seemed to increase incredibly. Gabriella had been going through a struggle with her physical appearance and Troy had been there the whole time, giving her positive feedback and comforting her at her worst moments. Their physical connection however, had been lacking._

_Gabriella had had two boyfriends before Troy. With each, they had made out but nothing ever seemed to amount to anything before they had broken up. With Troy though, they had barely done anything but kiss. It seemed strange to her that she was the one feeling the strain and not Troy. After all, he was a teenage boy and from what she'd learned in her health classes, that were taught by Troy's father Coach Bolton, all boys apparently thought about was food, sports, and sex._

_So why was it that all their physical relationship consisted of was kisses and hand holding? It wasn't that she wanted to have sex, she just wanted to have him wrap his arm around her every once in a while or cuddle with him while they were supposed to be doing homework. Every time they kissed, nothing seemed to amount from anything. She was worried that he didn't want to touch her. One of the reservations she had coming into this relationship was that he would find it weird or gross kissing her._

_So that explained the dress. It wasn't something she would generally wear and she would probably be more comfortable in skinny jeans and a cute sweater but she wanted to make his mouth drop. For once, she didn't want to look like his best friend, she wanted to look like his sexy girlfriend._

_Hearing the two boys chuckling, Gabriella knew they were close to the top of the stairs leading from the basement. Bighting her strawberry glossed lip in anticipation she turned her head to the stairs to see Troy with a horribly wrapped semi-small box in his hand. Matt headed back to the kitchen and Troy approached her on the couch. Afraid of the look he was going to give her, she pretended to be texting on her cell phone. _

"_Hey." Was his simple projection, intended to catch her attention. When she looked up she could see that he had an expression on his face she hadn't seen before. Dare she say it looked almost like lust in his eyes? He seemed somewhat uneasy, as he walked over to the couch and stuck his hand out for her to take. Pulling her up, she could see him trying to discreetly look her body over in the dress she was wearing. He wrapped her in a hug and kissed her. The kiss seemed to last a little longer than the ones they usually shared, but it didn't last too long considering their mothers were in the room next to them. Pulling away, he licked his lips which now had a little bit of strawberry lip-gloss on them._

"_You look beautiful." He kept his arms wrapped around her as he whispered in her ear. "Seriously, you look amazing." Pulling apart, but instead grabbing her hand, Troy looked down at himself, he was wearing jeans and a white button up shirt. Neither looked formal, but they weren't casual either. "Do you want to come upstairs?"_

_Troy's parents didn't have a problem with Gabriella being in his bedroom. Lucille became a stay at home mom after her two youngest sons were born and was home almost all the time. She knew that Troy wouldn't attempt to start anything with Gabriella while she was home and she knew they couldn't get to far without getting disrupted with all the commotion going on in the house._

"_Sure." Gabriella squeezed his hand. Before leaving the room, Troy placed the gift underneath the tree to be opened later. Heading up the stairs, Gabriella trailed behind Troy a little bit but kept hold on his hand. After they walked into his room, Troy closed the door and Gabriella went to sit down on the bed. Leaning back into the pillows, she made herself comfortable. Troy followed her act and did the same thing on the opposite side of the bed, making sure to keep some distance between them._

_All of a sudden he heard her giggling. Smiling he rolled his eyes. What could possibly be funny about this situation? She looked hot and he had a feeling she was well aware of that and he was sitting there awkwardly on the side of his bed._

"_Please tell me you didn't just wrap my present ten minutes before I got here." Troy was the master of procrastination. He had actually bought her present weeks ago. He had seen it and knew that Gabriella would immediately love it._

"_What are you going to do if I did?" Troy gave her the same grin he'd had since they meet. So what if he'd waited until the last minute to wrap her present? It was done now._

"_I don't know. Maybe I won't let you open your present." Gabriella had been searching for the perfect gift to get him for weeks. He was a hard person to shop for. He didn't really have any attachment to objects and since he wasn't a girl she couldn't simply buy him lotion and body soap from Bath and Body Works like she had for her friends and she couldn't buy him something lame like a basketball. She was his girlfriend now; she had a reputation to live up to._

"_You know, you didn't have to get me anything. Spending time with you is enough." Troy really didn't need anything. He had a wonderful family and was dating the girl of his dreams. In his mind, that was enough._

"_Says Mr. 'I've got the perfect gift.'" Troy had been teasing her about her present for quite sometime. He always did that though._

_Troy simply looked at her with a smile. He knew she loved getting presents and he loved the way her eyes lit up when she received whatever he was gifting her. That's why he did it, he would never get tired of her look of happiness._

_Gabriella rolled over onto her side to look him in the eyes. They simply smiled at each other, dropping the conversation completely. The look in their eyes spoke for them. Moving his gaze down her body once again, he saw the way her dress fell over the curves of her hips and ended at her thigh. He saw the way her breast was slightly pushed up thanks to the pillow she was resting on and he could slightly see the edge of her bra peeking out of her dress that shifted slightly when she had turned to look at him. There was no denying it now, she was sexy._

_Leaning over, he kissed her once again. He placed his hand on her waist and his thumb gently started to rub over her dress. Keeping their lips locked, she shifted closer to him and tangled her hand in his hair as the kiss deepened. Only breaking apart for air, Troy's hand was very slowly slipping down her side until he could feel the jut of her hipbone. His thumb continued it's rubbing and he could very slightly feel the band of what he assumed to be a thong. He decided to move his hand up a little, knowing that that might be pushing it a little. He was surprised that Gabriella was as into the kiss as she was. Breaking apart, they both were breathing heavily with their eyes closed. Troy leaned down to kiss her jaw gently. This had quickly gone farther than Gabriella or Troy thought it would._

"_Troy." Gabriella didn't know what else to say. She knew they had to stop to talk about what just happened before they could get any farther._

"_I know Ella." They took a moment to catch their breath and settle down a little bit. Troy sat up and ran his hands through his hair. Gabriella stayed in the same position, not really caring about her appearance at the moment, and tried to read Troy's emotions by looking in his eyes. "So." He broke the silence not really knowing what to say at the moment._

"_So." Gabriella repeated. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. It was just awkward now._

"_That was something… different." Troy was confused as to why Gabriella seemingly wanted to attract him to her body. After what she had gone through over the summer and fall, he didn't know why she was suddenly dressing like this._

"_Yeah it was." Gabriella paused for a second. She knew what she wanted to say but she didn't want to be embarrassed. "Um, good different, right?"_

"_Yeah, good different." He was still shocked at the deep lip lock they'd just shared. There was something different in that kiss. "You, uh, you liked it, right? It didn't get to be too much?"_

"_No, it wasn't too much." Gabriella wanted his insight on what had happened. She wanted to know if he wanted to advance in their physical relationship too._

"_That's good." Troy wasn't sure what to say or where he anticipated this conversation to go._

"_Can I ask you something?" Gabriella decided she was just going to get it out in the open._

"_Of course, you can ask me anything Ella. You know that." Troy looked her in the eyes. He was serious._

"_Promise you won't laugh at me?" Of all the things they had discussed, their physical relationship had never been a topic they'd dwelled on._

"_I promise Ella. I won't laugh." He let himself relax in the pillows still keeping eye contact with her._

"_Do you ever want more from me? Physically?" This was slightly embarrassing for her to ask. She didn't want to be rejected from Troy._

_This was a tricky question for him to answer. He didn't want to say yes and have her think he wanted sex but he didn't want to say no and have her think that he didn't want to be close to her physically. "Why?"_

"_Because I feel like you know everything about me. I feel like I know everything about you too. I know I can tell you anything and you'll give me your honest opinion." She took a breath before continuing. Troy was looking her straight in the eyes. "And I feel that what separates the line between friendship and a relationship is not only emotional but physical. Relationships don't just step up with emotional needs, but also physical needs."_

"_Ella, it's not that I don't want more from you physically, I just don't want you to feel pressured to do something that makes you uncomfortable." Troy sighed, he'd thought about this before. "I don't want to make you feel like you need to do something to please me. I don't want to hurt you."_

"_That doesn't mean we can't do anything more than just kiss though." She wanted to know more about what he thought._

"_You know you're beautiful, right? You don't need to wear something you aren't comfortable in for me to think that, right?" Now he was worried that she thought he didn't want to go farther with their physical relationship. "Ella, of course I think about having a deeper physical relationship with you. After what's happened these past few months, I don't want you to feel pressured to show me parts of your body that you aren't comfortable with. I know how you feel about your body and I don't want you to do anything you aren't comfortable with."_

"_Troy, you know what? As cheesy as it sounds, you make me feel beautiful Troy. I think I'm ready to get past the point of holding hands." Gabriella had thought hard about this. She knew she was ready for this._

_Troy studied her face. He could tell she was ready to create a deeper connection in their relationship. They hadn't done much since they'd gotten together and maybe it would bring them closer. "Okay, but I want you to promise me something."_

"_What?" Gabriella reached out to grab his hand._

"_I need you to promise to tell me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I really don't want to push you too far." Troy was sincere. He didn't want to break up because he'd pushed her too far and she felt like she couldn't say anything._

"_I promise Troy." He smiled down at her. This would be a turning point in their relationship. He leant down to 'seal the deal' with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. She loved how she felt so safe in his arms. They laid there in silence until one of their mother's would call them downstairs._

Slowly after that they had become more and more comfortable with each other's bodies. Gabriella's self esteem had improved during that time. Looking back she felt silly remembering how self-conscious she had been at that time in her life. She'd begun to feel more confident with the way Troy treated her. Their newfound physical relationship had brought a new closeness between the two that they hadn't realized had been missing. It brought their relationship to a level they didn't know existed and they appreciated each other more. After this they felt they had complete trust of one another and they could share anything with each other without hesitation.

Closing the book, she decided she would have to ask her mother for some copies of some of the pictures. She had apparently been looking through the book longer than she thought, she realized as she heard the door leading to the garage open. Her mother walked in with a smile on her face.

"What are you doing on the floor?" She thought it was strange Gabriella was lying on her stomach in the middle of the floor in the living room.

"I was looking at this." She held up the photo album she had found.

"You can keep it if you want." Looking back down at the book, she thought it might be nice to have at her apartment. Troy and her could look through it when he got home.

"Thanks. So how was your date?" Lucille and Jack had known about Maria's relationship for a while now, but had never meet Marcus.

"It was good. Lucille and I were thinking that we would go over there on Christmas day and then we could spend Christmas Eve over at your aunt's house. We are going to have to leave fairly early tomorrow to make it to Santa Fe." Maria's sister lived a little over an hour away from them. She had three kids that had all moved out of the house a few years ago.

"Okay, sounds good."

* * *

The next day Gabriella had gotten ready and packed up the gifts in her mother's car by eight o'clock. They were planning on getting there early so that they could leave the house by six that night and make it home at a decent time for them to watch a Christmas movie and drink hot cocoa like they always did on new year's eve.

They arrived around ten o'clock after stopping to pick up bagels for breakfast. Walking in the door, they could hear the commotion going on. Looking around, Maria's sister was running around chasing a small dog followed by two men. The dog appeared to have a sweatshirt, which still had wrapping paper on it, in its mouth. Leaning down, Gabriella snatched the dog before it could run through her legs outside.

"Thank you SO much Gabriella." On of Gabriella's cousins said to her.

"No problem, whose puppy?" The thing couldn't have been more then a few months old. It was very lively and had a lot of spunk.

"It's Charlotte and Tom's dog. They just got it the day after Thanksgiving." Her older cousin leaned down to hug her. "Damn dog's crazy. I think she was breed half dog half monster."

Gabriella giggled, she should've gotten a dog. Maybe she wouldn't have been so lonely if she had gotten a dog. Even though it would've given her a mini-companion, she knew that she wouldn't have gotten a dog without Troy. It wasn't that she wanted his permission, it just seemed like one of those things they would do together. They would get married, talk about having kids, get a dog to increase their responsibility, and then they would have their first child. That seemed to be how everyone did it.

"Gabriella! How are you?" Charlotte was now walking toward her with open arms.

The two hugged as Gabriella answered. "I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm great, look," Charlotte stuck out her left hand, which was now adorned with a very new, large, sparkly diamond ring on her fourth finger, "Tom proposed earlier this month! We are thinking about getting married late spring or early summer. You have to come."

"Of course I'll come." Gabriella smiled at her cousin who was very happy at the moment. Gabriella tilted her own hand slightly and looked down at it. Her ring wasn't as large as Charlotte's modern square cut ring. That didn't mean anything to her though, there was so much sentiment behind the ring that she didn't care about its size.

When Troy and her were eleven years old, Troy's grandmother passed away. This was the first emotionally difficult thing that had happened to him. His grandfather had passed away when he was young due to cancer now his grandmother had passed away peacefully in her sleep. Before his grandfather's death, they had been together for exactly seventy years. They'd dated since they were fifteen in high school and had been together until his grandfather passed away at age eighty-five.

In her will, Troy's grandmother had left him her engagement ring. It had a circular cut decently sized diamond that had a smaller diamond on either side. The silver band had intricate heart carvings around the edge of the band that weren't visible unless you took a close look. After he proposed, Troy had told her his mother had given it to him when he turned twenty. The ring, surprisingly, was perfectly sized and hadn't needed any adjustments. Having a ring, which had been worn for such a long time, had so much more meaning to her than a ring that was large and modern.

Charlotte continued talking about the wedding plans that she had made. She already knew what type of flowers she wanted, the color scheme the wedding would be, and she had already bought a dress. Turning to Gabriella she asked, "So, what do you have planned for your wedding? What colors is it going to be?

Gabriella hesitated slightly. She hadn't really thought much about her wedding. When Troy left, they didn't know if they were ready to get married in such a rush. They had planned to be engaged and living together for a while before they would get married. They were young and didn't want to rush into a marriage. They had only been engaged for two months before Troy had been sent to training camp, and later war. "I guess I haven't really thought about it much."

Charlotte's mouth dropped. "Are you kidding? You don't have anything planned?"

"No, I don't. I mean, I don't even know when Troy is coming home." That was the main reason she hadn't planned anything. She didn't know if he would want in the wedding. Did he want to have a small wedding or a big wedding or would he want to have it in Albuquerque or Denver?

"Wow, I have been planning like crazy. I can't believe you have been engaged for so long and you haven't planned anything! Do you have any ideas at least? Any colors in mind? Have you decided what kind of flowers you want? Cake flavors?"

Gabriella hadn't thought much about colors or flowers or cake or anything for that matter. Weren't weddings supposed to be white? Troy and her both had the same favorite color, that would be pretty easy to agree on hopefully. Flower wise, she liked roses, but was no expert on flowers by any means. "Well, I guess Troy and I do like the color red, that could be a possibility."

"Tom and I are going to have a whole bunch of bright colors. Since it's going to be in the spring, we are going to have lots of bright flowers in pinks and purples and yellows…" Gabriella started to drain Charlotte out.

Did she really need to turn this into that big of an ordeal? She had wanted a small wedding with their families and some close friends. She didn't really want to invite everyone she had ever known at some point in her life. Gabriella simply wanted her and Troy to share their love with each other in front of the people that really cared about them. She didn't want random people she hasn't seen since high school showing up at her wedding. There was a lot more to planning a wedding then she had though.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So, this has difinitely been my favorite chapter to write so far, although I'm not quite done with the next chapter, which will also be quite good. I really really hope everyone enjoys this chapter, because it's probably my favorite.**

**I've had this chapter written (as in completely finished) for about six days now and I feel like I've almost rewritten it with all my editing.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

_Bringgggg Bringgggggg Bringggggg_

Gabriella rolled onto her side. There was an obnoxious buzzing, that vaguely reminded her of an alarm clock, coming from her bedside table.

_Bringgggg_

Knowing it wasn't her alarm clock ringing at 2:04 A.M., she sighed. It was her damn phone. Who the hell was calling her at this time? She hadn't even been asleep for three hours yet.

_Bringgggg_

She picked up her phone, but didn't recognize the number. Hoping that it wasn't a prank call from someone, she reluctantly answered her phone. "Hello?"

She could hear the sound of boots clomping on the floor from wherever this mystery person was calling her. The phone sounded static.

"Ella?" Hearing the simple response, she immediately felt her eyes gloss over. There was only one person in the world that called her Ella. That particular person happened to be her fiancé who was half way across the world.

"Troy? Baby, is that you?" Gabriella called back into the phone, hoping desperately that this wasn't a dream.

"Yeah, it is me baby. Merry Christmas." She let a tear slip down her cheek. It was him. He was calling her on Christmas morning.

"Merry Christmas to you too Troy." Gabriella didn't know what to say. She rarely received phone calls from him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How about you? Are you in Albuquerque?" Gabriella had learned early on that when he called he wanted information about her and his family. He was able to write her letters almost every week, but he only received information on her whenever he was able to call, which was at most once every two months.

"Yeah, there was a big snow storm and I left Denver early." Gabriella tried desperately to shake off her tiredness.

"What have you been doing at home? Have you seen my family?" Troy had missed so much. He had no clue what Gabriella and his family had been up to. Last time he had been able to talk to Gabriella, Matt's wife was about to have his first child.

"I've been spending a lot of time with your family. I had dinner at their house on the twentieth. I got to see Matt's daughter, Sophia, for the first time and then I took Liam shopping for Christmas presents a few days ago." Gabriella would be his only information source. He had no idea on how out of touch he would be, not only with her, but the whole world.

"Really? I'm kind of shocked that Liam would want you to take him shopping." Troy chuckled, his oldest brother had a kid and his youngest brother was now thirteen. A lot had changed since he left.

"We all were. He misses you a lot Troy. We all do." Gabriella pulled her legs up to her chest. She appreciated being able to talk to him, but it was always difficult and she would inevitably have a breakdown every time he called.

"I miss you all too. You have no clue how much I miss you and my family." Troy paused for a second. "I love you Ella."

"I love you too Troy." Gabriella freely let the tears flow down her cheeks.

"Have you opened my present yet?" Troy wanted to know if his fiancé had opened his heartfelt letter and present he had requested his mother to get.

"No, I am going over to your parent's house tomorrow. I'll open it then." Gabriella smiled. He was quite possibly the sweetest man in the world. Even though he was struggling to stay alive, he wanted to get her something for Christmas.

"How is everyone? When was Matt's daughter born? Does Mason have a girlfriend yet?"

"They're doing fine. Sophia is three months old. She's adorable; she has Matt's blue eyes and Julia's blond hair. And yes, Mason has a girlfriend, they have been together a few months now." The separation between the two was becoming unbearable. "Your Mom and Coach are as adorable as ever."

"How's your mom doing?" Troy wanted every detail about everyone.

"Well, Mom has a new boyfriend."

"You're kidding! She finally has a boyfriend? What's his name? Have you met him yet?" Troy knew that since Maria's divorce, she hadn't really had a consistent boyfriend.

"His name is Marcus. He is tall and handsome and I meet him this week. He fixed up Mom's patio and mows the lawn. Better step up your game Bolton." Gabriella giggled, of course Troy had nothing to worry about.

"Well, you better stay away from Mr. Tall and Handsome otherwise I'll have to hunt him down." Troy paused for a second. "So, what have you been doing the last few months? Anything exciting?"

"Just working mostly. I've gotten a lot of cases these past few months. I've won all of them." Gabriella didn't like talking too much about herself during these conversations. She knew Troy would be disappointed at how much time she had spent missing him.

"That's great Ella." Gabriella could almost hear him smiling through the phone. "I'm so proud of you. I knew moving to Denver would be the right choice."

"You are always right Troy." Gabriella wasn't going to deny that Troy was her voice of reason. "I'm proud of you though. You give me strength to make it through the day. You inspire me so much, I want you to know that."

"Ella, I have to tell you something." Troy paused, the smile spreading on his face. He had had a wonderful few days.

"What is it Troy?" Gabriella was curious as to what he was going to say.

"Guess where I am?" He had had an interesting few days. A lot of flying and a few scary moments. Now though, he was in a better place than he'd been in a long time.

"Where?" Gabriella heart stopped. Was he injured? Was he in a hospital in another country?

"I am currently in Germany." Troy smirked. She wouldn't be expecting that. She was about to receive the best Christmas present she would ever get.

"What? Why are you in Germany? Is everything okay?" Gabriella was now even more curious in where this was leading.

"Well, we left Afghanistan a few days ago. It took a few days to get out and we had a few difficult places to fly over. We needed to stop here to switch planes before we continue, I'll be here for two days." Troy was skittering around the point he was trying to make.

"Well, where are you going?" Gabriella still wasn't catching on.

For such a smart person, she could be really dumb sometimes, Troy thought. Maybe she was tired. "I'm coming home, Ella. For good. I should be arriving in Denver in three days."

"Oh my God! If you are messing with me you are going to be dead Bolton!" Gabriella didn't know what to say. Of course she was excited, the news just hadn't registered in her brain yet. He was coming home? In three days? How was that possible? Weren't they supposed to notify you in advanced before soldiers came home?

"I'm not kidding Ella. I'm coming home." Troy had been in complete shock over the news too. It wasn't common that something like this happened. Most soldiers were notified about a month in advanced before they would be leaving. Troy had been located in one of the worst parts of Afghanistan. He was one of the stronger men drafted into the war and had been placed in a very strong regiment. After a year and a half of fighting, they were all becoming exhausted and were running out of supplies. A new regiment had been flown in to replace them with only a few days warning. They had flown out of Afghanistan and were staying at a base in Germany until they could switch into a more adequate airplane that would fly them to New York City, where they would once again switch planes that would bring them to their hometowns.

Even more tears were flowing down Gabriella's face. "You are coming home," Gabriella stated. That was a sentence she had wanted to say for eighteen long months.

Troy chuckled. This was a large shock for both of them. "I'm coming home."

"This is the best news I've ever gotten Troy." It was. This Christmas would certainly be one to remember.

"I know, it is the best news I've ever gotten too." There was a natural pause. "Just think, three days and I'll be home with you."

"I love you Troy." Gabriella didn't know what to say.

"I love you too Ella." Once again it fell silent.

Then, all of a sudden, it hit her. She squealed for what was probably the first time since she was a teenager

On the other side of the ocean Troy laughed for one of the first times in a year in a half. It was real now; he was going to be home with his Ella in a mere three days. Sure, he wasn't home for Christmas, but it was close.

Gabriella's mother had heard her screaming. Running to her daughter's bedroom she expected something awful to be happening. She could hear pounding on the floor. As she opened the door, preparing herself for the worst, she saw Gabriella jumping up and down in a sweatshirt and shorts with her hand held up to her ear, a phone encased in it.

"Gabi, you scared me. I thought something bad happened." Maria placed her hand on her heart, seeing that her daughter was okay.

"Mama! Guess what! Guess what!" Gabriella was still on the phone with Troy but she couldn't contain her excitement.

"What honey?" Maria had an inkling that she knew what was going on.

"Troy is coming home! In three days Mama!" Gabriella had the largest smile she had ever had on her face. Her mother walked towards her and hugged her.

"Is that him on the phone?" Maria asked. It was either Troy or somebody informing them of Troy's homecoming. She assumed it was Troy, considering there was a large time difference and it was later in the day wherever he was.

"Yeah, it's him." Gabriella then realized that she had just squealed in his ear. "Troy, baby I'm sorry for screaming in your ear."

"It's fine Ella." Troy had jumped hearing the loud pitched noise and had no clue Gabriella was capable of producing the sound he'd heard.

"How much time do you have left?" Gabriella knew that when Troy's regiment received a cell phone, they all had to share the time evenly and their conversations were generally short and rushed.

"I'm using a phone at the base. I've got as much time as I want." They could talk for hours if they wanted to, and they probably would.

"Perfect."

* * *

Gabriella and Maria pulled up the Bolton's driveway, once again. Gabriella was resting her head on the window with a smile on her face. She'd been up until five o'clock that morning talking to Troy. Gabriella and her mother had spent the morning exchanging gifts and talking about Troy's return to the United States. There was so much to be done that Gabriella had never thought about. She would need to drive back to Denver, go grocery shopping, clean the apartment, and she wanted to get Troy a Christmas and welcome home present. And what about all the stuff she'd have to get for Troy? What if his clothes didn't fit? He probably gained a lot of muscle and maybe his shirts would be too small. He would need new boxers too; they'd been sitting in their closet for a year and a half. Then what would she wear when he got home? She knew it didn't really matter, but she wanted to look good for him and she would have to get some sexy lingerie too. She couldn't deny, without anyone to impress, her collection of undergarments had become a lot less interesting. Then, she would need to get condoms and go see her gynecologist so she could start birth control again. Which lead her to think that Troy would need to renew his driver's license and he'd need a cell phone. She would also have to call the school Troy had worked at to inform them he was coming home. Under law, they had to leave his position open for him, but who knew when he would be able to start again? It was winter break, would she be able to contact the school board or even the principal? And really, she would only have one day to get everything done considering that she was going to stay in Albuquerque today for Christmas and tomorrow her time would be consumed with driving.

But right now, what she had to do was tell the Bolton's that Troy was coming home.

Taking a deep breath before walking into the Bolton household, Gabriella tried to repress the smile that had been taking over her face.

"Come on Gabi, let's go in." Her mother knew how Gabriella was feeling. There was a lot going through her brain at the moment.

"Maria! Gabi! You're here!" Mason yelled as he walked down the stairs. Gabriella could see a longhaired brunette behind him. "This is my girlfriend, Mari. Mari, my future sister-in-law and her mother."

"Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand but I've got to put these presents down first." Gabriella greeted. Mason stared at her, she was in an unusually good mood.

"Nice to meet you too." Mari spoke quietly. All these Bolton men were sure attracted to quiet girls. Gabriella must have set a standard for all of them.

"Well, Mari just came over so we could exchange gifts. She has to go back to her house now." Mason didn't want to rush her, Mari really did have to go.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around." Gabriella and Maria continued into the living room while Mason walked his girlfriend out.

"Hey everybody!" Gabriella exclaimed when she saw the whole Bolton family sitting in the living room with the exception of Mason. They were sitting on different couches and chairs with various opened presents on the ground.

Jack stood up and hugged her first. "Well, you seem awfully happy today."

"Well, once Mason gets in here I have to tell you about our present." Gabriella winked at him. That was as much information as he was going to get.

"Our present?" Lucille questioned. What on earth were they all going to get?

"Yep, our present." Gabriella answered.

Mason walked into the room and sat down. Gabriella continued standing in the middle of the room. Maria sat down next to Lucille and squeezed her hand and smiled. She felt like she was part of the family, and hopefully she would be part of the family very soon.

"So, this morning Troy called me at 2:04." Gabriella continued, "He's going to call us soon."

"Really? He got enough phone time to call us now?" Lucille was excited. Gabriella had been the one to receive all of Troy's phone calls and now she was excited to be able to talk to her son.

"Yes, he-" At that moment, Gabriella's phone began to ring. Answering it as quickly as possible she shared a few quick words with Troy and the Bolton's were wondering what they were conversing about. "Yeah, I'll put them on speaker phone."

Hearing this, everyone huddled in a circle around Gabriella's phone. She put it on speaker and soon enough they heard Troy speak. "Hello? Am I on speaker?"

"Troy!" He heard his mother first. Just like when he was talking to Gabriella, he could feel his eyes gloss over. He didn't realize how much he missed them until he heard his family's voice.

"Hey Mom. How are you? How is everyone?" He continued. Gabriella and him decided he would break the news over the phone.

"We're good honey, we're good. How are you?" Lucille wanted to know her son was safe.

"I'm good Ma. Really good." He smiled. He'd missed his mom so much. "Who else is on the phone?"

"We're all here Troy." Jack spoke up. He was getting a tad bit emotional speaking to his son for the first time in eighteen months.

"Hi Dad." Troy didn't call him dad all that often. Ever since high school, he had begun to call him coach. After a year of them dating, Gabriella also began to call him that. Gabriella and his father shared somewhat of a fatherly connection, so by calling him 'coach' Gabriella felt like part of the family without having to call him Jack or dad. "Hello everyone."

Finally his siblings pitched in with various "Hey Troy's" and "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too everyone." This was the next best thing to being home for Christmas but he knew he'd be home very soon. "Should I tell them now Ella?"

"If you want to Troy." Troy wanted to tell them, and Gabriella was going to let him tell them whenever he wanted to.

"So, Gabriella and I decided that we want to get married in Albuquerque at that little church." Everyone was confused at this statement.

"Well, that's great honey." Lucille spoke to him and looked at Gabriella with her eyebrows scrunched together. "We can't wait."

"Thanks Ma." Troy slightly laughed. They were disappointed. "We were thinking about getting married kind of soon."

Everyone was silent. Why was he telling them this? Did Gabriella and him seriously make wedding plans while Troy was at war over the telephone?

Not hearing any comments to this statement, he continued. "Because I'm coming home in three days."

Everyone's mouths dropped. They certainly weren't expecting that. Lucille was the first one that let the tears fall down her face.

"Oh my, Troy." That was all Lucille could say.

"You're serious Troy?" Liam questioned.

"I'm serious Liam." Troy paused, "At least I think it's Liam."

"It's Liam, Troy." Liam replied laughing. Troy could still recognize his voice. "I miss you."

"I miss you too Liam. I miss all of you." Troy let the tears roll down his face. He was crying twice in one day.

"We all miss you too, Troy. We love you too." Matt spoke up. Tears were in his eyes but he refused to let them fall. He too, like Liam, regret picking on Troy so much in his younger years and was afraid he wouldn't have time to make it up.

"I love you guys too. I can't wait to see you all." It was all becoming so much more real. His parents and Gabriella knew. He was a little apprehensive about going home though. There was a lot he would have to do to get back into the swing of things.

* * *

Tears had been shared and they'd talked to Troy for about an hour before hanging up. They ate dinner and were now opening presents.

The Bolton's had opened each other's gifts that morning but had decided on waiting to open their letters from Troy until Gabriella and Maria got there. So far they had opened various video games, movies, and clothing items. Lucille stood up and went to grab the envelopes she had sealed that held various letter portions Troy had written. Handing one to each of her children, and a small box to Gabriella, she sat down next to her husband who put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. They decided to work their way through the Bolton's first. The letters were sweet and mostly consisted of funny childhood memories and mentions of how he missed each individual in a certain way. Gabriella was the last person to open her letter. She gently pulled the envelope off the top of the small box. Ripping it open, she unfolded the letter and began to read it.

_Dear Ella,_

_Where do I start? There is so much I want to say to you. I should probably start out by saying I miss you. I would say that you have no idea how much I miss you, but you do. You know exactly how much I miss you, because I know you miss me just as much._

_Having said that, there's so much that I miss about you. I miss sleeping next to you. I miss it when you hog the covers and I have to cuddle closer to you to keep warm at night. I miss kissing you before we leave for work. I miss how you would make me a salad for lunch like you have done since high school because you claimed a growing man needed to eat something healthy. I miss holding your hand. I miss hearing you giggle when I talk about my day while we eat dinner. I miss watching you fidget with your engagement ring when you got bored. I miss giving you a shoulder massage after a long day at work. I miss the way you would wrap your arm across my stomach and run your hand lightly up and down my side after we made love. I miss the scar on the left side of your back. I miss things I never thought I would. I miss everything about you Ella._

_The second thing I want to say is that I love you. Words cannot express how much I love you, as cliché as it is. I want you to know that I love you more than anything else in the world and that I am going to marry you and we are going to have kids and live happily ever after._

_I feel like I don't have any memories of the time before I meet you. You have shaped my life in so many ways. Whether you deny this or not, you make me a better person Ella. Life without you simply isn't a life worth living. I did not realize how dependent I am on you until I left Ella. I hope you know I never intend on leaving you ever again._

_I've never told you this but I want to tell you about the first time I knew that I loved you. I was sixteen and you were fifteen. It was a few months before our first kiss. It was the first week of summer after our sophomore year of high school. We were sitting in my basement while my parent's were at one of my brother's soccer games and Matt was out with his friends partying after their final year of high school. You had convinced me to watch _Friends _with you. Again. I had ordered a pizza for us, pepperoni with sausage of course, that you refused to eat. For the first time, you confided in me that you didn't feel beautiful. Ella, that broke my heart. Watching you cry about how you didn't feel skinny enough and that your ex-boyfriend, and some other girls at school, had dropped some not so subtle hints about your body was one of the saddest things I'd ever seen. You told me that you wanted to throw up every time you looked at food and that you had only eaten grapes for the past three days. My heart was tearing listening to you. You were my best friend and seeing you hurt, made me hurt. I never thought such a confident person like you could feel that way, and I didn't understand Ella, I couldn't understand how you were feeling. I looked at you for inspiration. You were the most beautiful person I had ever meet, inside and out, and here you were, crying to me and begging me to help you. I wanted to take your pain away Ella, I really did. I would do anything to make you happy. I would take your pain and suffer for you any day. At that moment, I realized that I felt the need to protect you. I felt like I couldn't let anyone hurt you, because it hurt me too. I realized that I needed you to be happy, so that I could allow myself to be happy. It was my duty to make sure you were happy. At that moment, I looked in your crying eyes. The tears needed to stop, you were going to make me cry. There was nothing I could do to magically take the pain away. Then it hit me, I loved you. I never wanted you to be sad, I wanted to be your shoulder to cry on, I wanted to kiss you, I wanted to hold you, and I wanted to see you every single day of my life. At that moment in time, I realized that I couldn't see my future without you. I picked you up and held you in my arms and I told you everything would be okay, no matter what. I was going to do whatever it took to make you happy. To this day, I want to make you happy no matter what and hopefully I have succeeded. You are the most beautiful girl in the world Ella. I don't know how many times I have to say that until you will believe it, but you are and I don't want you to ever forget it. I admire you and aspire to be as good of a person as you are._

_I would like you to open your present now. It's nothing special, I know, but I felt that I couldn't get you anything that would live up to this letter and I know that we didn't have these at home when I left. Hopefully we can use them when I get home. I hope you know that I love you and there isn't a second that goes by that I don't think about you._

_Love,_

_Troy_

She didn't want the letter to end. Looking up, she hadn't realized that all of the Bolton's, except for Lucille, had left and it was just her mother, Lucille, and her in the living room. Her mom had put her arm around her sometime during the letter. Gabriella handed the letter to her mother so that Lucille and her could read it. She looked down at the box that sat in her lap. It was larger than what a jewelry box could be, but smaller than a box that would contain a sweatshirt or sweater.

She took the ribbon off the box and started to tear the wrapping paper. Taking the lid off the box she began to sift through the wrapping paper. First she took out the DVD set of the first season of _Friends. _She smiled; they would definitely have to watch some episodes when he came back. The next thing she unwrapped was their kindergarten nametags. She couldn't believe that their mothers had found them. Then there was a box of microwave popcorn. They'd had many movie nights at which they had consistently burnt microwave popcorn and when they had moved in together nothing had changed. Finally, she found a picture from the night they'd had their first kiss, later that summer. Overall, the present seemed to be nothing spectacular to an outsider, but Troy had successfully managed to squeeze the moment they met, the moment they got together, and something that had consistently been in their life. It meant the world to her, considering there was an ocean between them.

Oh, how she loved him.

**

* * *

A/N: So I'm kinda nervous about people thinking that this story will be over soon, but it shouldn't be. I have approximately ten chapters plus an epilog planned for this story right now. Things might change, but that is my plan so far.**

**Also, I did some research for this chapter and I tried to mend some real army facts with the actual story that took place during the Vietnam war. If there is any incorrect information feel free to let me know! I don't know much about soldiers coming home from war and it is kind of hard to find information on the internet.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So, I'm back. Finished this on a long airplane ride home. I published a new story this weekend called Welcome Home, so you should check that out if you haven't already.**

**I am super freaked out about this chapter because I felt that no matter how many times I re-wrote this and edited it, it wasn't going to live up to expectations. I am kind of disappointed about this chapter but maybe it is just because I am freaked out about it.**

**As always, Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! I love you all! And just to let you know, I cannot reveal what is going to happen in the story by replying to your reviews. I don't want to be rude, but I leave certain things out because they will pop up in the story later.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Gabriella Montez was freaking out. No, she was more than freaking out. She was about to have a flipping panic attack. She hadn't had a panic attack since she was fifteen. Tomorrow was going to be here soon.

Okay, so it was 5:12 A.M., but tomorrow was going to come quickly and she had a lot to get done. Why was she awake at this time of day? There was no time for sleep, that's why she was awake. She only had thirty-two hours and forty-eight minutes until she would get to see him again. Everything had to be perfect for his homecoming, which explained why she pushing the vacuum around her, rather their, apartment in Troy's white v-neck and a pair of athletic running shorts. She had already finished cleaning the bathroom and kitchen and was working on finishing the living/dining room. All she had left to do was their bedroom. She would clean it, but wanted to wash the sheets and put some scented candles in the room also. She had been cleaning since around two, she couldn't sleep.

Turning the vacuum off, she tucked her long bangs behind her ears; she had been trying to grow them out. She started to realize that waking up so early had worked to her advantage. She was almost done cleaning and by the time she had finished her bedroom, she would be able to shower and start running her errands. There was a lot to be done.

After cleaning and showering, Gabriella went out to get everything she desired for Troy's perfect homecoming. Currently she was at Super Target, it was a little bit further from her apartment that the regular Target, but she could kill two birds with one stone. Looking at her long list, she decided to head toward the grocery sections of the store first. People were probably staring at her because of the speed she was pushing her cart. She needed to get the essentials milk, eggs, and bread but also some strawberries, chocolate she could melt, Troy's favorite sour cream and onion potato chips, and his favorite Peppermint Bon Bon ice cream. Finishing up in the grocery section, she went to get everything else she needed.

After grabbing some vanilla scented candles, some cheap white t-shirts that would have to hold Troy over until they could go shopping, and some boxers she went to grab toothpaste, shaving cream, razors, and deodorant. Finally she got to the final aisle she would be in at that particular store: Sexual Wellness.

How hard could this possibly be? She hadn't bought condoms before, Troy always had, but you just went in, grabbed a box, and left right? No one was even in the aisle so she had nothing to worry about. Turning her cart, she passed pregnancy tests and lubricants and found the condoms at the end of the aisle. Looking up, she saw a myriad of different brands, colors, and flavors? She had only ever heard of flavored condoms from the movie _Juno. _This was just as confusing as buying tampons for the first time. What kind did Troy buy? She couldn't ever remember using ribbed, neon colors, glow in the dark, or flavored condoms, so those were all out. Then, what brand? And how many should she buy? Should she buy the economy pack? They would be set for a while. Finally making her decision, she steered her cart toward the check out lane and checked her phone for the time. 10:37. Damn, had she really spent that much time here?

After dropping off her purchases so that the food wouldn't get spoiled, she left her apartment again to go buy Troy a present. He deserved something after all he had been through. Serving in war was difficult and he had missed two birthdays and two Christmases so she wanted to get him something special that he could enjoy in his free time. Arriving at an electronics store, she pulled her car into a parking space and went in the entrance.

Walking to the video game section she requested some help. Gabriella had decided on upgrading their video game system for Troy. She had wanted to get Troy an Xbox 360 for his birthday or Christmas but he had left before she had the opportunity. Now that the new Kinect system had come out, she decided it would be a good present to get him. It would certainly be an upgrade to his Play Station 2 that sat in their apartment unused. Looking at the various games, she had trouble deciding on what to get. She wanted to stay away from war and guns because she wasn't sure how Troy would react towards them, but was finding that difficult. She finally picked out some games she thought Troy would like and grabbed some sort of fitness game for herself. Maybe she would get some use out of this thing too.

It was nearing four o'clock by the time she finished all her errands. She had plans for one of her coworkers to pick her up from her apartment and drop her off at a car storage garage, where they had stored Troy's car. She would drive it to pick up some dinner and then she would go home and hopefully allow herself to relax for a while and let everything sink in. The lack of sleep was catching up on her and she was starting to get tired. Troy was coming home tomorrow. It almost seemed too good to be true. Tomorrow at two in the afternoon, she would be wrapped in his arms, most likely with tears flowing down her cheeks.

Settling down on her couch with some pad Thai, she flipped the television on. She didn't know what she ended up watching because she was busy with her own thoughts. The past year and a half had been the longest period of her life. She knew that tomorrow, when she was lying in bed, cuddled next to Troy, and she wouldn't be able to remember how she had possibly been able to live without him.

* * *

Troy Bolton was in a testy mood. He had just gotten back on a plane after arriving in New York City from Berlin. Between the long plane ride, the dramatic time difference, and the small seats that seemed even smaller than usual because he had his army apparel on still, he was extremely exhausted and annoyed. Than man with a bear belly sitting next to him that was bitching about some lawsuit only pissed him off more. He sat down in his window seat and shut the window shade immediately. He hoped that by resting his head on the wall of the plane and closing his eyes, it would be made obvious that he had no interest in striking up conversation.

Starting to think, he thought about what Gabriella was doing right now. His flight was supposed to last four hours and forty-six minutes. Currently, it was sometime close to eleven and there were a few minutes until takeoff, which meant it was about nine o'clock in Denver. Gabriella was probably up and cleaning the apartment. He had insisted that she didn't need to do anything special, in his mind, his arrival would be perfect as long as he could take a hot shower or bath and lay in bed with Gabriella. A cheeseburger would be nice too, but that wasn't important.

Slowly, he began to drift asleep. A while later he awoke to here the captain announcing that they would be landing soon and all technology was to be turned off. He had slept through the whole flight. Suddenly, his stomach flipped. He realized that he was about to see Gabriella for the first time in 511 days.

Troy could count on one hand the number of times he had been nervous about seeing Gabriella. All of the instances had occurred after he had turned sixteen. The first was the day after he had kissed Gabriella for the first time. He had been nervous because she had seemed to enjoy the kiss and they had even held hands for a while but they hadn't discussed what happened or what was going to happen with their relationship.

The second time Troy had been nervous to see Gabriella was after their first argument as a couple. It was rare that the two had ever fought. Sure, it had been a pretty petty argument but Troy had felt like a jackass afterwards. They had got into an argument after Troy had seen Gabriella talking to her ex-boyfriend. His possessiveness had come out and he had yelled at Gabriella for simply talking to him. This ex was the one that had started her body image issue and he never wanted to see Gabriella speaking to him after what happened. Voices had been raised and feelings had been hurt, but Troy realized he hadn't listened to her side of the story and he would owe her an apology for that at least.

The third time Troy was nervous to see Gabriella was after they had had a particularly intimate night together that had almost lead to them having sex. They hadn't talked about going all the way and he had been afraid of the discussion they would have. He was nervous that Gabriella didn't want what he wanted and whether their relationship would change if they indeed decided to have sex.

The fourth time he had been nervous around Gabriella was when he decided he was going to propose to her. He had been carrying the ring with him for months at that point. He had desperately tried to hide it from Gabriella and shortly after moving in together he decided that it would soon be the time to propose. Soon in their relationship however translated to eight months. He wasn't necessarily nervous about her rejecting him, he was nervous because he was proposing. This was what they had talked about doing in the future, and apparently the future was now. Marriage was a big step in a relationship, it wasn't just wearing fancy rings and a white dress, it was dedicating yourself to the other for the rest of your life.

Now, he wasn't sure why he was nervous. It just seemed to be a natural reaction. The past few days had been surreal and his life without her was about to come with an end. The worry of being shot or a bomb being dropped from above was over. He was going home and he was going to marry Gabriella and they were going to start a family together. No one had believed him when he said that before leaving, but he was about to prove them wrong.

As soon as the plane hit the tarmac and came to a stop he stood up. Walking as fast as he could, he moved through the aisle and into the airport. He had to restrain himself from running as he moved across the linoleum floor that reflected the florescent lights mounted on the ceiling. His fast pace had to come to a stop when he came to a fully loaded escalator. Looking over the heads of the people in front of him, he tried to spot Gabriella from above. He didn't see her. He looked again, where the hell was she?

Stepping off the escalator, he didn't know what to do. Should he go to the left or to the right? Stepping forward he peered around once more trying to see through the large amount of people crowded around the various luggage carousels. He still couldn't find her. Suddenly he saw a brunette with curly hair, standing with her back to him, down by the other escalator. He knew it was her. He didn't need to see her face, it was Gabriella. Picking up his pace once again, he couldn't help himself from running. Once he got within the range that she knew he would be able to hear him, he yelled, not too loudly though, "Ella!"

He saw her turn around. She held a poster that read 'Welcome Home Troy' in green lettering. At the sight of him, tears began to fall down her face. She started to walk toward him but soon enough, she jumped in his arms. They spun in a circle once and Troy set her down on the ground again. Removing his hands from her waist, he raised his hands to cup her cheeks. At this point, he knew he had let at least one tear drip down his face. Looking in her eyes, he whispered what he had wanted to tell her face-to-face for the last eighteen months, "I love you Ella, I love you so, so much."

Gabriella tightened her grip around his neck, "I love you too Troy, more than anything in the world." Finally, after a year and a half of waiting, Troy dipped his head down and kissed her. Letting themselves explore each other's mouths, they quickly forgot where they were and what was going on around them. They didn't care that they were in a public place, it was their moment and nothing was going to ruin it.

Eventually forcing their lips apart due to lack of air, Troy rested his forehead on Gabriella's. "I missed you Ella. I'm never going to leave you again."

"I missed you too Troy." Gabriella smiled. Troy's face lit up with a smile as a natural reaction. He pecked her lips once more before they reluctantly pulled apart. Looking around, they both saw many people watching them with smiles on their faces. Grasping her hand, Troy and Gabriella moved toward the exit to get into her car leaving behind the loneliest year and a half the two had ever experienced.

"Do you want to go home? Or is there somewhere you really want to go to? I'll take you anywhere baby." Gabriella questioned him. She could tell from the bags under his eyes that he was tired. Starting the car, she pulled out of the parking lot. Troy had placed his left hand on her right leg and was gently rubbing up and down, not in a sexual way but because he just wanted to be touching her.

"I really just want to go home." As his hand moved up and down her bare leg, she could feel the blisters, cuts, and calluses on his hands. They were cracked from dryness and rough from the handling of guns. She always shivered at the thought of him running around with a large gun in his hands.

"Okay. Are you hungry? Do you want me to pick up something to eat? Or I could make something at home if you wanted." Gabriella knew his living conditions had been poor and wanted to treat him to whatever he wanted after having been gone for so long.

"Right now, a good grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup sounds perfect." Troy smiled at her. She thought that he would need a lot, but he didn't need much. Just some food, a change of clothes, and her would hold him over for a while.

Gabriella dropped her right hand from the steering wheel. She knew it probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but she felt the need to hold his hand. Stopping Troy's movements, he flipped his palm upwards so that they could interlock their fingers. At the moment words weren't needed. They pulled into the parking garage and got out of the car and connected hands once again as they went up to their apartment.

After walking in the door, Troy sat down on the floor to take off his tall, laced boots and Gabriella bent over to take the heeled pumps off her feet. "It looks exactly the same as when I left." Troy didn't know if he was expecting her to change the apartment or not, but he was still surprised it looked exactly the same with the exception of a few magazines scattered on the coffee table.

"I know, I didn't want to change much." Gabriella smiled at him. He stood up and began to walk toward their bedroom. Walking through the door, she watched as he collapsed on the bed. She giggled at him. It probably felt like heaven on earth compared to the cot he had been sleeping.

Troy groaned, he felt like the muscles that had been in constant use were slowly loosening. Gabriella lied down on her side next to him and rested her head on his outstretched arm. Troy looked at her and couldn't resist himself from pulling her toward himself and kissing her once again. "I probably should have changed before falling on the bed, huh?"

"It's fine Troy." Gabriella didn't care if the sheets got dirty as long as he was laying next to her. "Do you want to change?"

"Yeah, I am ready to take this camouflage off." Troy stood up and unbuttoned the coat that had his last name embroidered onto it. He began to shrug the heavy coat off and Gabriella went to get him a large shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a fresh, brand new pair, of black boxer shorts in case he wanted that too. When she walked back out she saw him bending over to grab his pants that he'd just dropped to the floor. She observed the way the muscles in his back contracted as he rose back up. He had gained a lot of muscle. Before he had left, he had been muscular with decent sized biceps and a six-pack of abs. However, he had been slightly skinny. Now he was simply buff. His muscles were more suited to his body now. The shaved head was something she would simply have to get used to.

"Here." She said handing him the clothes. He took his boxers off right in front of her, as if he'd never left. Pulling on the clean pair, he heard her giggle again and smiled. That was one sound he would never get tired of.

"Enjoying the view Montez?" He smirked at her. She probably wasn't expecting to see _all _of him within ten minutes of their arrival back to their apartment.

"I just think you want to flaunt your new bod Bolton." She joked back. Their ability to joke with each other was always something the two had enjoyed. It was their way of making a serious moment less awkward.

"Damn, I didn't think you'd catch me Montez." Troy skipped putting on a shirt and sat down next to her on the bed, before leaning back to lie down again. Gabriella once again lied on his arm but this time she place her hand on his stomach and began to run her hand across the ripples of his abs. Tilting his head up to kiss her, they quickly became lost in each other. Soon enough Gabriella had completely rolled on top of him and his hands were roaming up and down her sides and Gabriella let out a moan. Troy, however, knew that now was not the time. Pulling away he lightened the mood once again, "You don't seem to be capable of resisting my new 'bod' Montez."

Leaning down to peck a kiss on his lips she smiled and giggled. "This won't work as well when we get married and have the same last name, will it?"

"Who knows. Although, I can't wait to call you Mrs. Gabriella Bolton though." He said with a cheeky grin. Soon enough they would be Mr. and Mrs. Bolton and they would have kids with the last name Bolton. "So, how about that Grilled Cheese and tomato soup Montez?"

"I hope you know that just because I'm being nice now, doesn't mean I'm going to slave over the stove for you when we get married." She threatened him. Just because he returned home from war didn't mean she was going to be a housewife and baby him a year and a half from now.

"Well, I better take advantage of it while it lasts, shouldn't I?" Troy returned with a smile. He knew Gabriella would take it as a joke, but he would no doubt get a slap on the shoulder for his comment.

"Troy Bolton!" She exclaimed and lightly shoved his shoulder as he had expected. Rolling off him, she stood up. "You better keep in mind that I could withhold you from sex."

"You wouldn't do that Ella. It's been a year and a half, I know you are just as desperate as I am." Troy smirked at her. She had threatened periods of abstinence before but no matter what it wouldn't last. "And I'm irresistible."

"Haha Troy, very funny. Now, you can either sit in here by yourself or you could come and stare at my ass while I make you some soup. Your choice." Gabriella winked at him with a cheeky smile. She was only partly joking with her last comment. Before he left, staring at her ass had been one of his favorite pastimes.

"Yes ma'am." Troy stood up and grabbed her hand from behind as she walked down the hall toward the kitchen. They were already back to their old ways.

Settling down at the kitchen counter, they began to talk about their plans for the next few days. "So, do you want to go down to Albuquerque anytime soon? I kind of told your mom we would so you are out of luck if you don't."

"No, that's fine. I was planning on going down there. I want to see everyone. Do you know when Matt is going home? I want to make it down to see my niece." Troy hadn't realized how much he would truly miss out of his family's lives. He barely even knew Matt had had a kid while he was gone.

"I think he took the entire week off and aren't going to leave until the seventh. We have plenty of time to spend here and still be able to make it home and see everyone for a few days before school and work." Gabriella herself would have to think about returning to work soon. First she wanted to make sure that Troy would be able to get back to work and had everything set. "I did want to get some things sorted before we leave though. The brochure I picked up from the armory mentioned that you should get a physical upon arrival home so I set up an appointment for tomorrow because it will be closed for new year's. I also was thinking that we should try to get your license renewed and maybe get a new cell phone. I tried to contact the school but they haven't called me back."

"Okay. I just want to spend some alone time with you too." Troy looked at her. There was a lot he had to do that he hadn't thought about.

Gabriella looked him in the eyes. He had missed her a lot and was probably feeling an emotional attachment to her right now. They would definitely not be without of arm's reach from each other for a few days. "I know baby, me too."

Gabriella turned the stove off and poured their soup into bowls, put their sandwiches on plates, and grabbed two napkins. She sat down next to Troy, who put his arm around the back of her chair. "Thanks Ella."

"No problem honey, it's just lunch." Troy had become so much more appreciative of everything he had at home. At war they didn't get the opportunity to eat much and it had all been 'Just add water!' food.

"So, should we spend four or five days here and then go to New Mexico? It would be the second and we would still have five days before Matt goes home. I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind if we stayed longer if we wanted to." Gabriella wanted to get their plans out of the way so they could just enjoy their time together.

"Works for me." They sat in silence for a few a while.

"Is there anything you want to do today?" Gabriella wanted him to decide on what they would be doing. He hadn't had any free time in a year and a half.

"Honestly, I just want to lay on the couch and watch movies and cuddle with you." It had been a long day for Troy with all the traveling and he didn't have the desire to do much besides laze around the apartment.

"Sounds like a perfect day. I want you to open a present I got for you first though." She put her empty dishes in the sink and went to grab Troy's present from the closet. Spotting him sitting comfortably on the couch, she carried the slightly heavy box and sat it down in front of him. "I was planning on getting you one for your birthday or Christmas but you left so I wanted to get you one now. It's not as meaningful as my Christmas present, but I wanted to get you something."

"Thanks Ella." He bent over and kissed her. He had a feeling they would be doing a lot of that in the next few days. Picking up the present to set it in his lap, he felt the unexpected heaviness. It was a large box and had a bag with tissue paper sticking out. Ripping the wrapping paper off, he saw the Xbox 360 he had once wanted. "Wow, this is great!" Moving on he took the tissue paper out of the bag and took out a few games that would be compatible with the gaming system.

She lent her head on his shoulder. "I wanted to get you something you would have fun with."

"Well, I will certainly have some fun with this. I can't believe you remembered I wanted one." Troy had previously complained about his old gaming system.

"I'm glad you like it." She pecked his cheek and wrapped her arms around him. "Do you want to set it up now or just relax on the couch for a while?"

"It's not that I don't want to play it now, it's just that I want to lay down and rest for a while." Troy didn't want to hurt her feelings but he didn't want to go through the trouble of setting up everything right then at that moment.

"That's fine honey, don't worry about it. What do you want to watch?" She stood up and walked to the entertainment center.

"We should watch some of those _Friends _episodes." Troy smiled cheekily at her. They had watched the show a lot in their teenager years and he would never admit it but he kind of missed watching the show.

"Okay, I have to open it first though." She went to get a scissors to open the plastic wrapping on the large DVD set. Troy grabbed the blanket from one of the chairs and switched on the electric fireplace. It was starting to get dark outside so he used the light switch to dim the lights so it wasn't completely dark in the room. He watched Gabriella put the disc into the DVD player and she walked back toward the couch. He was laying on his back with his head propped up against a pillow. Gabriella pulled the blanket up and laid on top him before pulling the blanket back over them. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the top of the head. These were the moments he missed the most. The moments where they were just laying in each other's arms, relaxing and not worrying about anything. It felt great to be home.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Long time, no update. Oh well, you are getting a really long chapter.**

**I felt like I needed to update this before I leave tomorrow. If you don't read Welcome Home, I would like to inform you that I will be in Australia for three weeks to meet my host family and see some sights before I go on an exchange trip this summer. It is unlikely either of my stories will get an update. One at the most.**

**Thank you to all my readers and reviewers, I love you all**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Troy and Gabriella woke with a startle to the sound of a phone ringing. Groaning, Gabriella looked at the clock located above the television. It was after 5:30 already. Troy picked up Gabriella's cell phone that was ringing behind his head on the table beside the couch. He didn't recognize the number, and he held the phone for Gabriella to look at. She indicated with a shoulder shrug that she didn't recognize the number either. "Don't answer it."

Troy chuckled at her. She was almost never like this, she thought people who screened their calls were rude. "How long do you think we fell asleep for?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure what time we fell asleep." Gabriella assumed they had fallen asleep for at least an hour. They had managed to make it through two episodes of the television show they were watching.

"Mmm," Troy mumbled and closed his eyes again. Damn, he was tired.

"Troy, I know you are tired, but I think you should try to stay awake a little longer, it will help you get adjusted to the time change more easily. I think you should take a hot shower or bath and eat something, okay?"

"Sleep Ella." Troy groaned again. He didn't want to leave his spot.

"Hot water Troy." Gabriella leaned forward to get up. "Come on, I'll go start the water for you."

"Fine." Troy grumbled. Stretching, he realized it had gotten hot in the apartment due to the electric fireplace. As he began to walk toward their bathroom, he switched the fireplace off. Walking in, he saw Gabriella testing the temperature of the water that was falling into the bathtub.

"So, what do you want for dinner?" Gabriella asked as the sat on the edge of the tub. "Do you want to go out and get a cheeseburger or some Chinese maybe?"

"A cheeseburger definitely. Can we go to that diner and get malts too?" Troy was going to inhale as much food as he possibly could. He had not had much to eat in the war. Supplies were scarce and they rationed their food as much as possible.

"Of course." Gabriella smiled at him as he began to strip down. Before he had the chance to take off his boxers, Gabriella walked out of the bathroom.

"Ella, where are you going?" Troy said when he saw her turn in the direction of the living areas instead of their bedroom. He assumed she was just going to get him some more appropriate clothes to wear to dinner.

"I was going to go in the kitchen and put the dishes in the dishwasher, why?" Gabriella was confused. She was just going to the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to come in with me?" Troy had assumed that she was going to join him in the bathtub as they had done many times before.

"I wasn't going to." Gabriella could tell by the look in his eyes that he was disappointed she wasn't going to join him. For the first time in their relationship, he looked vulnerable.

"Oh." Troy turned around and dipped his fingers to test the temperature of the water. He wasn't ready to be away from her yet, even if she was just going to the kitchen.

Gabriella watched his actions. "I can come in if you want me to."

"Okay." Troy replied emotionlessly, feeling stupid. He did not want to appear needy to her.

As Gabriella joined Troy in the tub, she sat between his legs and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Closing her eyes, she lent her head back against his hard chest. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just, not ready to be away from you yet." Troy began to relax. He really appreciated hot water now.

"You could have just told me that." Gabriella felt him tighten his grip on her.

"It's not that big of a deal, I just want to be with you right now. You could have gone to do the dishes." Troy informed her, knowing there was no way out of it.

"Trust me, I would much rather be with you than doing the dishes Troy." Gabriella smiled as she felt him kiss her neck from behind, not in a sexual way, in a sweet gesture. Snuggling into him, she savored the moment. It was still hard to grasp that he would be staying home with her forever. He would not be leaving anytime soon, if ever.

* * *

Gabriella Montez rolled over and reached out to find her fiancé. Moving her hand around the cold sheets she bolted up in bed with sleepiness. Had everything been a dream? Was Troy still at war? Had she not even left for her mother's house? Pulling the sheet up over her bare chest and feeling the slight soreness in her inner thighs, she realized that she had not been dreaming. Turning the light that sat on her bedside table on, she spotted her clothes scattered on the ground but Troy was still nowhere in sight. Gabriella stood up and slid on a pair of underwear and Troy's t-shirt that he had worn out to dinner.

Walking out the door, she saw a light on in the kitchen. As she traveled in that direction, she could begin to see Troy's long shadow on the floor of their kitchen. He was gripping the edge of the sink and drinking a glass of water. Walking up behind him, she slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his back. She could feel him jump slightly at her unexpected motions. Obviously he hadn't heard her coming toward him.

"What are you doing up?" He questioned her. He thought he could slip out of bed unnoticed, but had only been up a few minutes.

"I could ask you the same thing." She replied. She was curious as to why he was up just a few hours after they had fallen asleep.

"Hmm," Was his only response. He was tired, but he couldn't sleep.

She kissed his bare back as he took a long drink of his water. Of course his sleeping patterns would be off due to the large time change, but he had had a long day with all his flights and she assumed that what they had done after they slipped under the sheets of their bed had pushed him to his final point of exhaustion.

"Are you okay? Are you sore or anything?" Troy attempted to break the silence. He tensed slightly as he heard a noise, probably an airplane in the distance, coming from outside.

"I am fine baby. I will be a lot better if you come back to bed though. Please?" Gabriella felt Troy take a drink of his glass of water. He set it down in the sink and Gabriella unwrapped her arms from Troy's waist.

Without saying anything, he turned around and kissed her on the forehead and wrapped her in a hug. As he was rubbing his hands up and down her back, he whispered, "Let's go."

With that, Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and led her into their bedroom. Pulling back the covers, he slid back into bed at the same time as Gabriella. He lied on his side facing Gabriella who was facing him also. He felt Gabriella move closer and closer to him and he rolled onto his back. Gabriella made herself comfortable resting her head on his chest and slipping her leg in between his. Troy wrapped his arm around her to help her move more on top of him. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Not now Ella. Let's just enjoy our night together." Troy was feeling the exhaustion of his long day.

"Okay. You know you can tell me anything? I won't judge you." Gabriella felt like that question was shared between them a lot. It was not really that the other one needed to be assured,

"I know Ella. I'll tell you, just not now." Troy saw her tilt her head toward his head with her lips puckered. Chuckling, he leant down and kissed her once again. "I love you Ella."

"I love you too Troy." Not only was the vulnerability seen in his eyes, but she could hear it in his voice. He had always been the strong one in their relationship. He had been her rock her whole life, but she had never had to support him. She wasn't worried about supporting him and helping him, she was worried because for the first time he needed the support instead of herself. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course you can Ella." Troy was slightly confused about what she could possibly want to tell him right then.

"You know that letter you wrote me?" She felt him nod his head now that she had rested her own on his chest. Subconsciously, she lightly ran her hand that was draped across his stomach up and down his side, just like she had earlier that night. That was one of the things he mentioned in the letter. "I keep it with me wherever I go Troy. It is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"I just wanted to thank you for writing it and for telling me when you knew you loved me." She didn't know how to reveal what she wanted to reveal. "Do you want to know when I knew that I loved you?"

"Ella, don't feel like you have to because I told you." Of course Troy wanted to know, but he wanted to know when she felt comfortable telling him.

"I want to tell you Troy, I really do," Gabriella reassured him. "Do you remember the night that I fainted and I was in the hospital?" She felt Troy tense his arms around her. That had been the peak of her emotional troubles in high school. It was about a month after she told him that she wasn't eating. It had been one of the scariest days of Troy's life, the lowest point of Gabriella's eating disorder, and the night that lead to their first kiss.

"July 17." Was all Troy said. It was certainly a day he would never forget.

_It was currently eleven o'clock at night on a warm Wednesday night and Troy Bolton was spending his summer freedom like many other teenagers, playing video games. Currently he was attempting to dodge multiple men chasing his character with large guns in their hands. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Quickly, he pressed the paused button and slid his phone to look at the caller I.D. He frowned, it was Gabriella._

_Their relationship had been strained the past month. She had come to him wanting help. He was the only person that knew she was in trouble. He had been trying to convince her to get help, he knew she wouldn't be able to get over everything by herself. At this point, he was trying to repress the thought in his brain that his best friend had an eating disorder._

_Although he had pressured her to get help, he wouldn't force it and promised he wouldn't tell anyone about it. He was afraid of betraying her, she would hate him if he told. It sounded so juvenile, but he didn't want to ruin a ten-year friendship._

_He debated simply not answering. It was late and he might be able to get away with telling her that he was sleeping. Deciding it was in better judgement not to lie to his best friend, he answered the phone._

"_Hey Ella." That was his automatic response. He always said that when she called and he knew it was her. _

"_Troy, it's Maria." He heard Gabriella's mother speak into his phone somewhat shakily._

"_Oh, sorry Maria, I thought it was Gabriella. What's up?" Troy was close with her mother. Their mothers were friends too._

"_Are you sitting down Troy?" Maria had certainly been in for the surprise of her life. She was pretty sure that this day had been worse than the day she found out her husband had been driving illegally._

"_Yeah I am, why?" Troy was beginning to get worried. He wasn't sure why Gabriella's mother was calling him from her cell phone._

"_Gabriella is in the hospital Troy." Troy felt his heart drop. He could have prevented this. He should have told someone. This was way worse than breaking his promise to tell someone._

"_I-" Troy sighed. Should he tell Maria he knew why? "Why? Is she okay?" Of course she wasn't okay. She was obviously anorexic or bulimic or whatever other eating disorders they had tried to teach him about in health._

"_She fainted. She's fine right now and she'll make a full recovery with treatment," Maria paused not wanting to reveal what really happened in case the young man didn't know, "You were the only person I could think to call Troy. If anyone knows why she did this to herself it's you. And, I think she needs you right now."_

"_I'll be there as soon as I can, okay Maria? Tell Ella I'm on my way." Troy ran up the stairs. He was so stupid. He didn't tell anyone and now she was in the hospital._

"_Wait, Troy, wake up your mom or dad and have one of them drive you, or Matt even. It's not safe for you to drive right now. I'll see you soon Troy." Maria added, the last thing they needed was for Troy to get into a car accident on his way to see Gabriella because he was upset._

_First, he went into his room. He pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. He grabbed his Wildcat basketball sweatshirt with his name on the back, he recently found out that Gabriella had been using some shirts he had left at her house over time to sleep in, and a pair of her red flannel pajama shorts that his mother had kept to wash after she had spent a week in their guest room while Maria was on a work trip. He thought it was funny that he had a drawer half filled with Gabriella's stuff that had been left at his house and his mother put her clean clothes in it. After grabbing the keys to his truck off the top of his dresser, he opened his closet doors. Reaching down, he shoved some of the junk he had piled on the floor out of the way, he grabbed the stuffed mountain cat Gabriella had given him when they were eight. It was once a simple Christmas present she had given him because she knew how much she admired his father's basketball team, the East High Wildcats. The stuffed animal had been passed between the two secretly at every Christmas after that. However, he knew Gabriella would need it more than he did right now._

_Thinking about her, he pressed his palms into his to keep from crying. What hurt the most was that he could have prevented everything from happening. He took a breath and stood up to make his way into his parents' room. He knew this situation was probably going to be dealt with with his mother._

_Gently shaking her he whispered, "Mom. Mom, wake up."_

_Apparently his father was a light sleeper. Before his mother could even register that he was trying to wake her up, his father had groaned. "What do you want Troy? Can't this wait until morning?"_

_They couldn't see the look in his eyes in the dark. If they could, his father wouldn't have questioned him. As his mom came to consciousness, he spoke again. "Mom, Maria called, Gabriella's in the hospital." He let the tears drop as he spoke the words out loud. At his comment, his father had turned on the light. "Maria said one of you need to drive me there."_

_His mother saw the tear he had tried to hide by wiping it away quickly. She leaned up to hug him. "Give me two minutes to put some clothes on and I'll take you. Meet me in the car." With that she handed him the keys that sat on her bedside table. "Troy, honey," She continued before he could walk out of the room, "Everything is going to be okay."_

_She watched her son retreat from her and her husband's room. She looked over at Jack, "I have to go." She said as she stood up and went over to their walk in closet._

"_Do you want me to come with?" Jack thought of Gabriella as a daughter. He had taken her under his wing when her father had been put in jail. Of course he was worried about her._

"_No, I think I need to go with Troy alone right now. I'll call when we get everything situated. If Gabriella is okay with it, I'll tell her you want to see her." Lucille was thinking there was more to the story than Troy had told her._

_As she slid into the driver's seat, the changed the gear to reverse to pull out of the driveway. Most of the ride was silent, but half way there she reached her hand over to place on top of Troy's. She knew her teenage son wouldn't respond, but she squeezed his fingers. Since he didn't refuse, she left her hand there assuming he wanted it there._

_When they arrived, they met up with Maria in the waiting room. She told Troy what room Gabriella was in and stayed behind to break the news to Lucille._

_Troy walked down the illuminated hallway. The sterile smell made the knot in his stomach tighten. He counted the rooms, 303, 304, 305, and finally 306. He knocked gently on the open door before entering._

_Gabriella turned her head weakly to see who was entering. She gave him a week smile._

"_Hey." He said. There wasn't much that he could say now._

"_Hi Troy." At the moment, both felt pretty shitty. Gabriella knew it was her fault that Troy hadn't told anyone about what was happening and that she had wound herself up in the hospital._

"_I, uh, I brought you some stuff." He held up the duffle bag in his hand._

"_Thanks." She replied as he handed her the bag. It was sweet, it had a change of clothes and their little wildcat stuffed animal. She felt the tears in her eyes already as she pulled it out of the bag._

"_I think you need it right now more than I do. So, are you okay? I mean, other than, well you know, but after fainting and stuff, you feel okay?" He stumbled out awkwardly._

"_You can pull that chair over and sit next to me if you want." She pointed to the wheely chair in the corner. Her mother had used it. "And, uh, yeah I'm fine. My head hurts a little, I hit it on the arm of the couch."_

_Gabriella let her head rest on the mattress. She felt horrible that she had gotten herself into this situation with Troy._

"_I'm sorry Troy, I really am." She said with tears in her eyes._

"_Ella, we don't have to talk about this right now." He said, he felt himself tear up. Neither had pictured this getting this far._

"_I think we need to Troy." She said as she looked him in the eyes. He had cried over her. "I feel like such an idiot and I don't think I'll be able to feel any better until you forgive me."_

"_Ella, you are the farthest thing from an idiot. You can't say things like that, you will only make yourself feel worse." Troy spoke. The part that broke him though, was that she wasn't using the term lightly. She really believed that she was._

"_I made you keep this from everyone. If I would have let you tell someone, we wouldn't be here now." There was nothing that would stop her tears now._

_Troy could feel his heart breaking, he reached his hand out to hold hers. He began to rub his thumb on her palm. She was right._

"_I'm sorry Troy, I'm so, so sorry." She repeated over and over._

"_Ella, it's going to be okay now. You can get the help you need now. Things can only get better from this point. You need to believe for it to happen though Gabriella. Your mother, my family, our friends, and I can have all the faith in the world, but it won't count for anything unless you believe in yourself?" Troy looked her in the eyes, "Do this for me Ella, I need you. You are my best friend."_

"_You'll be by my side right? I need you too Troy." She felt him squeeze her hand._

"_I promise Ella and you know how I am about promises." Troy stood up from the chair and dropped her hand. He motioned for her to scoot over so he could have a seat next to her. As he sat down, he wrapped his left arm around her and let her lean into him. He could feel how skinny she had gotten. She was practically a twig now._

"_Thank you Troy. I don't know what I would do without you." She rested her head on his body. _

_The past few days she had been feeling a need for Troy. He was the only person that could make her feel better about herself. They had argued over her situation quite a bit and the further they got from each other, the greater her need had grown. She couldn't deny, she was beginning to feel attracted to him in ways greater than friendship. Now though, she was realizing she needed him in her life._

"_I don't know what I'd do without you Ella." With that, he looked down into her eyes. She was tired and weak, he could see that. "I want to do something Ella."_

_Without waiting for permission, he bent his head down and placed his lips on top of hers. The kiss was simple, there was no need for tongues to be involved. As they separated a few seconds later, Troy spoke again, "Are you okay?"_

_He wasn't referring to her physical or emotional state right now, but rather to the fact that he had just kissed her. "I, um, I am, uh, great. What about you?"_

"_Ella, I would never forgive myself for not telling you my feelings for you if something happened. I just thought, this past month, that now wasn't the right time. You were dealing with enough and I didn't want to add pressure to that." Troy confessed his feelings. In a short amount of time, he had to make quick decisions._

"_I feel the same way Troy." She snuggled into him deeper. Their relationship would definitely change and become more complex, but this was a good start._

"_So, does this make us official? Like boyfriend and girlfriend." He hadn't really been all that nervous about kissing her, but he had done it spontaneously._

"_I think it does Troy. You and me. Boyfriend and girlfriend." She smiled up at him. Now she knew that she had nothing to worry about._

_He had been the first person to visit her in the hospital. He cared about her and wanted her to get better. He had kissed her. Sure, it was quick to think that she loved him, but they had known each other for ten years. Had there ever really been a doubt that she loved him? She didn't think there ever was._

_After she had fallen asleep, Troy had gone to see his mother and Maria. His mother hugged him immediately. "Are you okay honey?"_

"_Yeah, I'll be fine." Troy looked at his mother who had obviously been crying. He assumed Maria had told his mother about Gabriella._

"_Troy, do you know?" Maria asked him. Lucille and her had been disappointed that Troy probably knew about Gabriella but hadn't told anyone._

"_I don't know specifically, but I know." Troy looked at Maria, "She's, uh, she's anorexic, right? You aren't going to send her away though, are you?"_

_Troy's suspicions were confirmed as he saw his mother nod her head. "No Troy, I'm going to try and find someone in Albuquerque to help her." Maria told him softly._

_It was becoming real now. Gabriella would have to go to therapy to get treated for anorexia. It would be a long emotional process._

"_Troy, how long do you want to stay? Maria wants to run home to get some things and I was going to stay here with you while she's gone." His mother waited for his response._

"_I don't want to leave." Was all he could think of for a response._

"That day changed my life Troy, for the better. You always promised to be there for me and you always were. Even though I was in a really shitty situation, you still wanted to be with me. You motivated me to get better Troy. That's why I love you. You push me to be a better person." She could feel a tear drip down her face at the thought. It wasn't quite as heartfelt as Troy's letter, but it was her moment.

"I love you Ella. Always have, always will." Troy could tell she was getting tired, and so was he.

"I love you too Troy. Forever and always." Gabriella chuckled, "You know, life is good when reality is better than your dreams."

"I know Ella, I know." He rubbed up and down her back softly. "We are going to be okay."

"I know baby, I know." Gabriella smiled. Sure, it wouldn't be easy, but everything was better now that he was home. The difficult part was over. "'Night Troy, I love you."

"I love you too Ella, with all my heart." He didn't want to sound corny, but it was a corny moment.

* * *

"Ella," Gabriella could feel Troy placing light kisses on her ear lobe. "Ella, wake up." Troy continued pestering her.

"Go back to sleep Troy." She ordered him. She was perfectly content laying in his arms for a few more hours. She was worn down after the night they'd had together.

"It's almost eleven Ella, we need to get up." With that, she groaned. "Hey, you are the one that scheduled a doctor's appointment."

"I know and I'm stupid." Troy continued with his pestering. "Troy stop it, your face is scrachy."

In all reality, Gabriella wasn't sure if she really wanted him to stop because his face was scratchy because he hadn't shaved yet or if she knew inside that if he continued she would be too tempted to stay in bed all day.

"Fine then, I'll get up and leave you here alone." Troy rolled over slowly, knowing he wouldn't be getting out of bed without Gabriella. This was turning into one of their joking moments again. "And to think, I was trying to be sweet by waking you up nicely. Maybe I should have just moved to my side of the bed and taken all the covers with me."

"No, Troy don't leave me here." She quickly rolled over and placed her hand on his torso.

"I will need an incentive. If you are going to keep being mean to me, I'm going to shower. Alone. Without you," Troy teased.

Gabriella stretched her neck up to kiss him, knowing that was what he really wanted right now. She extended the kiss when she felt Troy run his tongue along her lower lip. "Was that a good enough incentive?" She asked after she forced her head away from his.

"Not quite enough. How about I make you a deal." Gabriella squirmed toward him as he allowed his body to relax into the softness of the bed.

"What would this deal consist of?" Gabriella played along with teasing.

"I stay in bed with you for five minutes and then you get out of bed and come in the shower with me." Troy continued.

"Hmm… I feel like I might be getting the short end of the stick but I guess I'll take it but only if you promise to shave." Gabriella smiled at themselves. It was almost as if he'd never left.

After evacuating the steamy shower Gabriella had attempted to dry her hair and apply her makeup. It had taken twice the amount of time it usually took due to Troy's nagging.

"Ella, you don't need any. Stop and come out with me. Let's leave early and get some coffee or something Ella." Troy complained as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He tried kissing her neck to get her to put down a round blush brush.

"Troy, I am almost done. All you are doing is distracting me. Why don't you shave your face and brush your teeth." Gabriella instructed him. He was just bored.

"Fine then." They had switched parts now, Troy was complaining.

Gabriella had finished as Troy swiped the razor down his cheek for the first time. She hopped onto the counter. "Can you believe that you are actually home? For good?" Gabriella spoke as she reached out grab the razor from his hand. He moved over so that he was standing in-between her legs. She began to gently remove the shaving cream from his face. She had done this before a few times before he left and they wanted to spend every second possible together.

"It's surreal, isn't it? I keep thinking that I will wake up and this will have been a dream." Troy watched her face intently. He hadn't had time to just look over all her facial features. He'd missed everything about her.

"Last night when I woke up and you were in the kitchen, I thought I'd dreamt everything that happened." Gabriella momentarily stopped to look him in the eyes. She had really believed he wasn't there when she woke up.

"I'm sorry Ella. I didn't mean to scare you." Troy apologized. Now he really felt bad about leaving bed in the middle of the night.

"Troy don't worry about it. Everything is good now, right?" Gabriella looked him in the eyes again. This time for a longer period of time. She wanted to confirm that everything was going to be okay and that after eighteen months apart, their relationship wouldn't change.

"Everything is good." Troy said somewhat hesitantly. It wasn't that their relationship wouldn't be okay, it was that already he was having a difficult time adjusting to everything. His brain seemed to be in over drive everytime he would let his thoughts drift and he wasn't caught up in Gabriella.

Troy bent over the sink to rinse of the stickiness of the left over shaving cream. He reached over to grab his aftershave, it seemed to be in the same exact spot as where he'd left a partially used bottle eighteen months ago.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella were driving to the local mall. So far they had been to the clinic, the licensing center, and a store at which they had purchased a new cell phone for Troy. The day had gone well, the doctor had cleared him of major infections and diseases he could have picked up in the middle-eastern country. He had slight dehydration, but that could easily be fixed with lots of fluid.

She was beginning to detect something was wrong though. Since they left their apartment, Troy had been very jumpy around loud noises and she could see the tension in his face when they were around certain things. She had an inkling as to what was going on, it was actually common among people returning from war. She done a little research as she was preparing for him to come home.

The only thing was she didn't know how to bring the conversation up. She didn't know whether she would wait and let him tell her what he was thinking, or if she should bring it up. Maybe she should just wait a few days a see what happened. If her concern persisted, she would bring it up.

When they arrived, she opened the door and stepped out. Troy walked around to meet her on the driver's side of the car. Their conversations had been light while they were out. Most of what they talked about were things that needed to be done. They made their goal to get as much as possible done today so that they could laze around together and do nothing tomorrow.

"I've been thinking," She stated as he grabbed hold of her hand, "What do you think about maybe staying up in the mountains for new years? We could just go and I can ski and you can snowboard and then we can have a romantic dinner and go in the hot tub and stay up and watch the fireworks. Like we did before you left. I think that it would be good for us. You know, we can get out of the apartment and have a little fun."

Troy began to remember the last time they had done that. The year they moved to Colorado, he had the idea to take a short one-night stay up at a mountain resort. They had fun on the slopes and enjoyed the short time together before they had to return to work. He smiled at her, "Sounds great Ella."

As they walked in they discussed what stores they would go into. The reason they had gone was to simply buy Troy some clothes that fit him properly.

"While you were gone I avoided this place like the plague." She decided to mention to him, remembering her recent trip to the mall.

"Really?" It was when she told him things like this, that he realized he had missed out on a lot in her life.

"Yeah, there were just so many couples walking around. I got a bit jealous of them." Now she didn't have much of a problem discussing things like this, especially with Troy, but while he had been gone any news about any couple made her want to puke with longing.

"I didn't know you would avoid places because of me being gone," Troy replied while they shifted through a rack holding jeans and various colored v-necks, "I always feel bad knowing that you were so lonely here."

"Troy, I don't want you to feel bad about leaving me here. You didn't have a choice and I am well aware of that. You know I don't blame you for leaving, right?" Gabriella moved closer to him, so that their arms brushed each other.

The thing was, Troy didn't know that she didn't blame him. He knew Gabriella knew that he had no choice to leave, but he wasn't sure about how Gabriella would feel after he arrived home. "I just didn't know if you would resent me for leaving you here alone. I feel like I could have done something to make sure you were happy. All I want for you is to be happy Ella."

Troy kept his eyes focused on the clothing he was shifting through. Gabriella dropped her motions and looked around, they were toward the middle of the store and there was a large display blocking them from the view of the store employees. She hadn't anticipated this happening in the mall. She hugged him from the side, "Troy, there was nothing you could have done. You knew that I wasn't going to be happy without you. Baby, you did everything you could for me to be as comfortable without you as you possibly could. I have gotten so close to your family and my mom the past few months. I know you told them to take care of me for you. No one could ever live up to your standards, but they did a good job," She paused for a second, "And now, it's in the past. We can move on and start a new chapter of our lives together."

Troy gave in and let his arms drop around her. "For the first time, there was nothing I could do to make you feel better Ella. It tore me apart." He was letting his insecurities out. He didn't have many, but anything revolving around Gabriella and his relationship was slightly sensitive at moments, especially now.

Gabriella felt him kiss the top of her head. "Troy, the letter you wrote me made me realize how hard this was for you. I always thought that we had equally hard positions, but I realized how much you pride in protecting me. For the first time in my life though, I had to learn how to stand up for myself. I didn't have you there to catch me when I fell. It scared me Troy but I'm a stronger person now."

Troy realized that this was probably slightly awkward knowing that there were other people in the store, but he didn't care. "Before I left people told me war would make me a stronger person when I came home. Right now I feel week Ella." Troy felt his eyes glossing over again.

"I'm right here baby, I'm always right here." Troy let his head drop into the crook of her neck. He tried to rid his throat of the large lump that seemed to be choking him.

And in that moment, Gabriella knew how Troy felt that summer. She wanted to take his pain away and she wanted be there for him and be his shoulder to cry on. She was going to do whatever it took to make him better.

* * *

**So, I must admit that I cried a little writing the flashback. I was debating putting it in there because I personally have battled with problems similar to Gabriella and it was tough for me to write because I pretty much based it off my own experience with my best friend. I hope it was worth putting it in.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I would like to inform you all that I am currently writing a prequel to this story! It is called Healing Love and I think you should all check it out. It will revolve around Gabriella's eating disorder since so many of you seem interested in that.**

**Updates will still be scarce this week and next until I get home from Australia. IT IS SO HOT HERE IN SYDNEY! I am loving it, at home it is currently -12 degrees (F) so I am soaking up the sun.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

* * *

Gabriella and Troy had continued with their shopping experience as though nothing had happened between them. They held hands, Troy tried on clothes, and they had gotten smoothies at the food court. Everything had gone perfectly fine.

They had arrived home and Gabriella began cooking them some spaghetti for dinner. Troy had listened to the messages left on their home phone, the school he taught at had finally called him back. While Gabriella was cooking he had set up a meeting with the principal after he would get back from visiting Albuquerque.

After assuring his wellbeing to the principal, he had entered the kitchen again. Gabriella was almost finished, "Will you set the table and light the candles?"

Troy grabbed the aforementioned items off the counter and retreated to the table without a formal response. It took a few clicks before the fire floated out of the end of the lighter. He set the forks on top of the napkins on the left sides of the plates, the knife blade facing the plate on the inside of the right side, and the spoon to the right of the knife. His mother's rules about setting the table was something he had not forgotten about.

The smell of the Italian food and cheesy bread cooking in the oven made his stomach growl. As he entered the kitchen once more, he saw Gabriella standing next to the stove. This is what he pictured coming home to everyday when they had first moved in together. There she was, looking as gorgeous as ever, with her hair up in a messy bun. She was wearing a long purple and black tunic with leggings. He creeped up behind her and rested his hands on her waist. Sliding his hands up and down, he bent down to kiss below her earlobe, "Smells great baby."

"I think it's done, you ready to eat?" She replied with a giggle.

"Mmhmm," he pulled away from her so she could dump the strained noodles in a bowl and pour the sauce on top.

After dimming the lights, she sat down at the table across from her fiancé. After they each scooped an appropriate amount of noodles on their plate Gabriella could feel Troy's foot slide next to hers. She slid her foot over his and gently rubbed it over his ankle. Troy chuckled, they were twenty five and twenty six and were playing footsie.

Troy could see Gabriella's engagement ring sparkling off the soft candle light. That was right, they needed to get married soon.

"Have you planned anything for the wedding?" Troy mentioned between bites. They hadn't spoken about any wedding plans since he had arrived home.

"Uh, no I haven't." The topic of wedding planning had been well avoided for the past eighteen months.

"Well we probably want to start planning soon, right? I mean, if we want to get married soon we have to start panning soon." Troy had assumed she had done a little wedding planning at bare minimum.

"I didn't want to start without you though. I wasn't sure if what you wanted at the wedding had changed at all." She spoke looking down at her plate. He probably knew the real reason she hadn't begun planning but they were skidding around the reason.

"All I want is you to be there. Everything else doesn't matter." Troy spoke with honesty.

"Well, now that we've got that narrowed down, maybe we should pick a date. That would probably be a good place to start." She responded sarcastically.

"Is there some sort of time we have to give the church a heads up for?" Neither had any clue where to start with the planning.

"I have no clue. But we want it soon though. We determined that, but how soon? February, March, or is that too soon?" If they did decide soon, there was a lot of things they had to get done quickly, flowers, food, reception, and, of course, a dress.

"March I think would be fine. February might be too soon, it's only like a month away. And if we did it in March, we could have it over spring break. I'm not sure exactly when it is but it'll probably be hard for me to get off a lot of time considering I haven't exactly been present the past couple of months."

"Troy, don't worry about work right now. No one blames you for being gone, some people even pity you for being gone. They'll understand hun." She was beginning to grow concerned about how he seemed to be blaming himself for being gone. "How about we wait until we get to Albuquerque to start planning. We'll go to the church and figure out when we can get the wedding in, okay?"

"Okay." It was beginning to dawn on him how much he had to get done. He would have to get his job all settled, do lesson plans, and figure out how him and Gabriella were going to get married.

"Troy, honey, relax. Everything will work out. Right now, we have ten days with no plans. We don't have to worry right now." She knew that it wouldn't be possible not to worry about everything ahead of them, but now was not the time to worry.

With that she bent her leg up under her butt so that she could lean over the table easily. He saw her pucker her lips and couldn't resist the melty feeling he felt in his heart. Giving in, he let his lips glide over hers. It must've been kind of uncomfortable for her, but she was the one who initiated the kiss.

As she pulled back, she saw the look of despair in his eyes. Feeling her own heart melt she reached her hand up to run through his hair, only to remember that his hair was all gone. It had been buzzed into an army cut and she was ready for it to grow longer again. She pulled back and stood up from her spot to walk around and plop down on his lap sideways and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Wrapping her arm around his neck, she traced the outline of his ear. As she rested her forehead against his temple, she kissed the side of his head. "I want you to be happy Troy. I don't want you to be worrying about everything at all times of the day."

"Ella," he moaned softly as she began to nibble his ear. He sighed and leant his head back against the chair and Gabriella moved down his neck. He took a few seconds to relax before he slid his hand underneath her shirt. Before he knew it he felt her lips on his and his tongue was slipping into her mouth. He took his time exploring her mouth, making sure not to miss a spot. They pulled away for a split second before reattaching themselves at the mouth.

Troy slid his hand down her leg and lifted her up in a cradling position. Gabriella giggled as he gently shifted her to be more comfortable. He took large strides down the hallway to their bedroom. He gently set her down on the bed but pulled away for a second to take his shirt off. Gabriella crawled backward toward the pillows and bent her finger at Troy, inviting him to join her. Gently crawling on top of her petite body, Troy pushed her shirt up just beneath her breasts. Gabriella could feel Troy's growing body part against her thigh as she allowed him to re-explore her chest. She had a feeling that tonight would be even more sensual than last night. Last night had been loving and slow, tonight however she felt would be filled with passion and desire. It definitely was not enough, however was perfect for his first night back. Now though, wasn't much different, but she had discovered that Troy was already having a difficult time adjusting. Tonight, she was going to make him completely forget about everything that had happened.

Gabriella arched her back as she felt Troy kiss down her neck and chest until he reached the tip of her cleavage where her tunic cut him off. Skipping down, he continued down the middle of her rib cage until he reached the top of her leggings. He straddled her waist before pulling her up a little bit so that he could slide her top off of her slim body.

"You look amazing Ella," he commented about her slim figure.

"You look pretty good yourself Bolton," she teased back.

She loved the feel of his rough hands gently gliding across her body. It was the perfect contrast. She felt Troy gently slide down the top of her leggings. Leaning down, he kissed the spot he knew was were her tattoo was located. Even though it had only been there a mere few days before he left, he had memorized its exact spot much like he had memorized every part of her body.

* * *

Troy awoke, once again, very late in the morning. Actually it wasn't considered late morning anymore, it was early afternoon. It was unlike Gabriella and him to sleep so late into the day, but they hadn't actually fallen asleep until early into the morning. He knew Gabriella was awake, her body was beginning to stretch beneath his arm that was wrapped around her waist. He gently rubbed the pad of his thumb against her stomach.

Her body turned so that they were no longer spooning and Gabriella was laying on her back. Troy leant his head on one arm and lifted the one that was previously around her waist to brush her messy curls off her face. He bent down to press a gentle kiss on her cheek, "Good morning beautiful."

"God, I missed this so much," she reached up to pull his head down to kiss her. He hadn't been expecting a forceful yank and collapsed from his unbalanced elbow. Gabriella chuckled at his less than graceful move.

"Making me look like an ungraceful idiot?" He joked after groaning from the sudden movement.

"No," she felt Troy shiver as she gently dragged her long fingernails across his chest, "Waking up feeling safe in your protective arms."

She had a large cheesy grin on her face but Troy knew that she wasn't joking. "It's after noon."

Gabriella sighed, "Last night was worth it though."

"It definitely was." Troy said suggestively.

As Troy slid his arm around her, she felt his prominent muscles contract slightly. Another airplane had flown near their apartment "Troy," was all she said as she felt him pull her close to him.

"It's nothing Ella. Really it isn't." He couldn't deny that the past two days since he had gotten home his senses had been on overdrive.

"Troy, baby, it's normal after coming home from war. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you holding everything in." She didn't want to be forceful but it really wasn't healthy to hold your emotions in, especially after being in such a traumatic situation.

"Ella, I haven't even been out of war for a week. It's going to take a while for me not to be freaked out that there is possibly an airplane flying over our heads waiting to drop a bomb." Troy sighed, his body was used to being on full alert 24/7.

"I know but I don't want you to hold everything in. I want you to be able to talk to me about it because holding everything in only makes matters worse. Trust me, I know," the tone she began to use with him was slightly forceful and wasn't used very often. She certainly hadn't used the tone while she was so comfortably wrapped in his arms.

"I'm fine Ella, really I am. Not everything is going to be exactly like it was before I left," Troy wasn't used to being the vulnerable one. Yesterday had been a rare moment, certainly one that hadn't ever happened before.

"I just don't want you to be anxious all the time and for every little sound to startle you," she really didn't want him to end up like her when she was sixteen.

"Ella, it's been two days." Troy argued.

"Troy, PTSD is really common and I don't think it's a bad idea to-" she stated before being cut off.

"Wait, you think I have PTSD? It's been two days Ella. Two days. That's not enough time for me to go insane!" Troy was sitting up in bed now.

"Troy, calm down. I don't want to argue with you right now." He had been a bit emotional but after the two days they'd had, she didn't want to argue.

"No, people with PTSD are insane. There is no way I have PTSD. I am fine." He stated.

Now she was beginning to get pissed off. Gabriella could tell he was not fine. He was denying it, her mother had told her that there was something wrong when someone started denying that they had a problem. "Troy, I didn't say that you had PTSD. I'm just saying that it isn't uncommon for people to feel the same way you are right now Troy. I'm saying that if this continues, we should probably talk to someone about it, okay?"

Troy could tell that she was upset. They had migrated to opposite sides of the bed and she was holding the sheet over her chest.

"Ugh," Troy collapsed back down onto the pillows. He was beginning to realize he was becoming defensive which was never good. "I'm sorry Ella, I didn't mean to imply that… I mean I know how you are about this stuff and I didn't mean to say that everyone who has problems is insane."

She knew what he thought about having PTSD. The public view of people with PTSD, formally known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, was less than positive. Stories of men who drove themselves insane and went out at night to drink their problems away. Troy had a firm belief that he was a big, strong, man. He was but big, strong, men didn't deal with emotional problems. Sure, he wouldn't have a problem with helping Gabriella through her own emotional problems, but dealing with his own emotional distress was something new.

"Troy, this isn't going to be easy. I know you don't want to deal with it, but look where it got me. I don't want that to happen to you. That's why, the sooner we look into it the better," she didn't want him to go down the same path as herself.

"I know Ella, it's just… never mind." Troy didn't know what to think now. He had hoped to come home and pick up where they had left off. He knew it wasn't likely but he'd set his hopes high.

"What Troy?" She was curious as to what he was going to say.

"Well, in my head you always come first and right now it doesn't seem like you need me." He spoke warily.

"Troy, I will always, always need you. You are my everything. These past eighteen months have driven me insane. It has made me need you even more. The time away from you made me realize that not only do I want you by my side through everything, I need you by my side through everything. I love you Troy."

"It's not that I doubt that you need me, it's just that you're so independent and strong now and it's great to see you so confident. I have never worried about myself though." And there it was, he was scared for himself.

Gabriella slid so that she could once again rest her head on his chest. She just listened to his heart beat, the heart that beat for her. "Troy, you should be so proud of yourself. You made it through war. That is one of the toughest things anyone can do. With things like that, comes a little bit of an emotional downfall though. I am so proud of you. This part here, is nothing compared to what's happened."

Troy didn't respond but took a deep breath.

"You are going to be fine Troy. You are safe now, that's what matters," she paused before continuing, "And who knows, maybe we are making a bigger deal out of this than that it has to be. We won't know for sure until things settle down and we get back to our normal lives."

She looked in his eyes and could tell he was about to cry. His stable life had been taken away from him. Everything he knew was ripped out from beneath his feet. His pride and joy had been taken away from him. His job, the hard college work, everything he had worked for was gone. Gabriella, the one thing that after more than fifteen years he had never believed would be taken from him, had been taken away from him.

Then, he was dropped in the middle of a mid-eastern country to fight not only for his life, but a chance to redeem his life back. He had seen hunger starved children, severely wounded soldiers and citizens, and had to kill people. Of course he was a little weak now.

"It's okay to cry every once in a while Troy," she caressed his cheek as he let a tear drop from his eyes. It seemed like she just told his younger brother the same thing.

"I was so scared Ella." It wasn't often that he voiced his emotions and her heart broke when he did.

"I was too, honey. It's over now," she wiped his tears and kissed his forehead, "it's all over now."

"I know but it just seems like every time I close my eyes all I see is war. It just seems so real in my dreams," what he had experienced was terrifying.

"I know, but it's going to get better. I promise Troy." She knew it was only a matter of time. "We are going to go and have an amazing New Year's Eve and then we are going to go home and see your family. We are going to be so busy that you won't have time to think about everything, alright?"

"Okay. Everything is going to be okay." He repeated to himself. The hard part was moving forward.

"You have to believe it Troy. Remember, your family, our friends, and I can have all the faith in the world, but it doesn't matter unless you believe in yourself." It was strange, having to repeat the words he told her almost ten years ago now.

He locked her in a hug and kissed the side of her head. It was almost as though being with her automatically made him feel better. He rubbed her back up and down. His motions weren't as much to comfort her, but to comfort himself

"I missed this too Ella. I missed us." He could feel his muscles begin to relax.

"No more arguing. For a few days at least." She prompted.

"I never want to argue with you Ella. Especially today, I never wanted to argue with you"

Gabriella pressed a light kiss on his chest. "It was something we had to talk about eventually but now it's over with."

"Right, now onto more important topics, I think I need to call my Mom. She's probably pissed beyond belief that I haven't called her yet," Troy spoke up.

Gabriella snorted, "We are in bed, naked, after an argument and you want to call your mom?"

"Are you implying that we are supposed to have make up sex?" He teasingly joked. One thing the two prided in their relationship was their ability to balance a physical relationship and an emotional relationship.

"What, you don't think you got lucky enough last night Bolton?" She questioned him in response.

"I could never be too lucky," he spoke before rolling on top of her and balancing his weight on his elbows above her shoulders. Leaning down, he pecked her on the lips, "But right now, I have a feeling that we would get distracted by a phone call from my mother if we continued."

Groaning, Gabriella reached over to grab her cell phone. She honestly believed that Troy was right, Lucille would probably find a way to call them at an inconvenient time. Lucille said it was a mother's sixth sense.

"Here," she gave Troy the phone after she dialed the Bolton's home phone number.

"Hello," came the response on the speaker phone. It was definitely not Lucille.

"Dad, it's Troy." Here came the emotional rollercoaster. Even though he wouldn't have the opportunity to see them in person for three days, he appreciated being able to talk to them on the phone.

"Troy! How are you son? Is Gabriella taking good care of you?" Jack was ecstatic to hear from his son. There was something about knowing he was at home and able to call him that comforted Jack.

"I'm doing good," he smiled over at Gabriella, "And do you even have to ask? Of course Gabriella is taking good care of me."

"So, what are you guys up to? When are you coming down? Everyone has been wondering what you guys have been up to," Jack could hear two of his sons entering the room and heard them ask if Troy was on the phone. He nodded his head at his two youngest sons.

"We just woke up a little while ago. We are going to go up in the mountains tomorrow and stay the night. We were thinking about coming down on the second, we wanted to call and ask mom if that was okay," Troy knew his parents wouldn't care when he arrived home but knew they would appreciate a heads up.

"No problem. I'll tell Mom and everyone else. Did you still want to talk to her?" Of his four sons, Troy was probably the closest to his wife. He was the one they would probably consider to be a 'momma's boy.'

"Yeah, I do." Gabriella smiled up at him encouragingly.

"Okay, I'll get her on the phone." Troy could hear his father walking throughout the house.

"Troy! My baby, I've missed you," he heard his mother's voice boom through the phone.

"I've missed you too Ma," Troy knew it was only moments before his mother would respond.

"What the heck has taken you so long to call me Troy? Is that any way to treat your mother?" She scolded him and both Gabriella and him laughed.

"I'm sorry Ma. Gabriella and I have just been caught up in a lot of things and we forgot to call," Troy gave the only legitimate excuse he had.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to forgive you. When are you going to come home?" Lucille questioned him.

"Ella and I are going to go skiing and snowboarding up in the mountains tomorrow and New Years but we're going to come on the second." He repeated to his mother.

"Good, I have a few days to prepare. Is there anything you want when you get here? Any food requests?" She, like Gabriella, wanted her son to feel welcomed on his homecoming.

"I don't think so Ma. We'll be fine."

"If you insist. You better be expecting some mac and cheese though. You and Gabriella have some fun, you two deserve it. I'll see you in a couple of days. I love you guys," Lucille didn't want to end the short conversation with her son but knew that Gabriella and him probably wanted to spend as much alone time together as possible.

"Love you too Ma. See you in a few days," Troy hung up the phone and fluffed the pillow behind his head.

"Are you ready to get out of the house yet?" Gabriella questioned Troy from the spot she was resting on his chest.

"You know if I could I'd stay in bed with you all the time but yes, I am excited to go up to the mountains," Troy pecked the top of her head.

"What about work? Are you excited to get back to teaching and coaching?" She wanted to know if he was ready to return to work or if he felt like he needed some more time to adjust back to living at home.

"I'm not ready to go back today, but after we get back from Albuquerque and the holidays are officially over I'll be ready to go back," Troy knew that he would have to talk to the teacher who had filled in for him to go over lesson plans and he probably wouldn't be able to step in as coach so late in the basketball season. Even though he would like to step in and coach, he would have to go through all the paperwork required with being head coach but it would be good for him to be able to start up with just classes again.

"I will come to all the games," since Troy had made the JV team in eighth grade, Gabriella had been to all of his games, well every game held at a high school. It had been too hard in college to be at every single one of his games because they were generally at different colleges around the country.

"Like you'd ever miss a game. Even if I can't coach this season, you'd still be at every game," Troy loved that through everything she was so supportive of him. She didn't need to be at all of his games, especially since he was no longer playing and simply offering his advice to younger, up and coming, players.

"That's what I'm here for though. Full support of you which includes your team, whether you're the coach or not."

"In that case, I will contact Wilson for a schedule and Thursdays will be our new date night," just because he couldn't coach didn't mean he wouldn't support his team. He assumed that many of the younger kids were now playing varsity and had improved a great deal over the time he had been away.

"See, everything will fall into place when things settle down," Gabriella knew it was only a matter of time before their lives were back to normal.

"I'm starting to believe it will," Troy's confidence was beginning to grow back again. He knew that once he was able to provide for himself and make a living again. It seemed to him that a man's instinct was to be able to keep life stable and once that was completely back to normal, he thought that maybe he would feel normal again.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well, I'm back.**

**Haha, spent the past few days in the hospital due to health complications. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**Hmm... How would I describe my love for my reviewers (even if they are diminishing)... I'll have to think about that for the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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"Troy, stop swinging," Gabriella firmly demanded to her fiancé.

"And why would I do that?" Troy retorted as she gripped the forest green pole tighter than her previous death grip.

"Because if you don't stop, you won't have a bride at your wedding," she threatened. The snow was lightly falling, resulting in a white coating that created what anyone would consider a romantic backdrop. It would be perfect, if Troy would stop swinging his snowboard back and forth.

"You're not going to fall Ella," he adjusted the strap of the goggles resting on top of his black beanie so that they wouldn't fall off his face mid-run.

"Troy, we are forty-five feet above the ground. I would really appreciate getting off the chairlift alive," she continued to nag Troy. She clicked her skis together to nock of the snow that had accumulated on the top. Sighing, she felt Troy tighten the arm he had resting on the back of the chairlift.

Troy leaned over to kiss the top of her head, "I'm sorry, I was just messing around."

It was a long ride to the top of the mountain. They were taking this lift to the top of a blue square and it was about a forty-minute long run to the bottom. They had left their apartment around eight and arrived at the mountain around ten. It was currently about three in the afternoon and they decided on heading down one last run before going in for the night. The mountain didn't have lights, so skiing ended at four.

The two had used the time on the chair lifts to catch up with each other. They had discussed their families, jobs, and friends. No matter how many stories Troy was told, there would always be that extra space in between that he had missed. It seemed as though Troy would never realize how much he had truly missed out on. He would tuck all the stories away in his brain but they would never be engraved as true memories.

His adjustment back to normal life was rocky. The more time he spent with Gabriella the harder it seemed it would be the first time they had to spend time apart. Separation anxiety was setting in without the separation.

The two successfully made it down the run without breaking any limbs despite the few falls they had made. After they locked up their equipment so it wouldn't get stolen and made their way in the main lodge of the resort they were staying at. The luxury of being 'ski in, ski out' was that they wouldn't have to drag their equipment with them everywhere.

Both had decided on taking showers upon arrival in their room. Gabriella had gone first and Troy was enjoying the unlimited hot water the shower provided. When she opened her laptop to respond to the 'welcome home' emails for Troy she noticed an email Lucille had sent her a few days previous.

Clicking on the link provided, it took her to a whole new world. Throwing her into the mix of colorful flowers and white dresses, was the website of a wedding planner in Albuquerque. The attached words Lucille had written above the link were, 'Just a little inspiration.'

She marveled at the bright colors and extravagant center pieces in the look book. She couldn't imagine how many people had to have been invited to make such a great affair. Hours upon hours must have been spent obsessing over every little detail to create a wedding so grand.

Gabriella decided she must have been born without the bride gene. It was to be such a large day of her life. It was so significant, yet she didn't have much desire to actually plan the event.

"What are you looking at?" Troy was walking toward her while running the towel over his head.

"A wedding planning website your mom sent me," she knew that now that Troy was home their families would be pushing them in process of marriage planning.

He sat down next to her on the bed they would be sharing for the night. He looked over at the page she was on and tried to decipher how much the six foot tall flower arrangements had cost.

"Wow," was all he could say.

"I know, it's crazy. Could you imagine inviting two hundred people? That would be like inviting everyone we know," she was still in awe at some weddings people threw.

"It's a party. It doesn't even seem like a wedding," he said of the room crowded with people dancing and eating at elaborately decorated tables. This was almost the exact opposite of what he had anticipated in their wedding.

Gabriella abruptly closed the laptop and pulled the sheets down for her to snuggle under. Reaching over, she ran her hand over his head. The feeling of his short hair seized to amaze her. She couldn't wait until he grew it out from the buzz cut.

"We should eat," was what came out of his mouth as his fiancé started to get comfortable.

Gabriella groaned, her legs were sore and she didn't want to get back up off the bed, "No."

"Ella if we don't eat now, we'll stay here, fall asleep, and miss the fireworks," he commented responsibly.

Gabriella wasn't sure if she had the energy to stay up until midnight. It was New Years Eve though and she really wanted to kiss Troy at midnight. Looking over at the clock, she realized they still had five hours until midnight.

"C'mon baby," he coaxed by yanking back the covers, exposing her legs to the air.

"Troy," she continued complaining. Her body was revolting, yet she knew if they didn't leave now they never would.

He watched as she slid over to the edge of the bed, where he was standing. She reached out to grab his hand, "Will you carry me?"

He laughed at her request, she was really tired after their day, "I wish I could but I think people would stare."

"Since when do you care if people stare?" She questioned, he'd always been the center of attention.

Her question was left unanswered when he bent down to kiss her lips. He rested his hands on her hips, "Is this what you're wearing?"

"I'm going to throw a sweatshirt on," she was dressed in leggings and a plain white t-shirt.

They slid on their shoes before venturing outside into the cold. They were staying at a resort so they had to walk to the restaurant outside. They had ventured out in sweatshirts and to conserve body heat on the way over Troy had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and in return Gabriella had her arm wrapped around his waist.

They had been a pretty touchy-feely couple since that Christmas night when they were seventeen. However, it hadn't been until Troy received his deployment letter that they had displayed so much affection in public.

When they sat down they put in their drink orders right away noticing the holiday crowd. Gabriella ordered a martini and Troy had a glass of beer. Neither cared if they got a little tipsy, it was New Years Eve after all.

When their drinks arrived they clinked their glasses together in a cheers fashion. Troy spoke up, "To a new year, and yet another new experience."

Gabriella smiled at his notion, this night would be a good time to officially turn their lives around and start over. She guessed things wouldn't be entirely new, they would carry on living together and would start their jobs back up again but now everything would be so much different. Troy and her would relish in their time together because they now knew how it felt to live without each other.

* * *

"Careful Troy, it's dripping!"

Troy couldn't help but chuckle at Gabriella's girly exclamation. Upon arriving back to their room they found that turn down service had left complimentary graham crackers, marshmallows, and some chocolate for smores. It had taken a while for them to get the fire pit located outside their room lighted but they were now relaxing and waiting for the fireworks to start in a few minutes. Gabriella had perched herself on top of Troy's lap and was licking the dripping chocolate off the side of her smore.

Troy smiled as he kissed the side of her cheek gently. He loved when they could escape from life and he loved the side of her personality it brought out. Not that he didn't love all of her personality, it was just that this was a side he didn't see very often. He loved that throughout their day the smile on her face hadn't been wiped off once. Since high school, if not before high school, there hadn't been many times that they weren't worrying about getting work done or stressing about deadlines. So when they had the opportunity to leave their apartment and work to relax he loved the time they spent together.

He took a bite when she offered the sweet to him. He wasn't sure who it was, but whoever it was, was a genius for putting a melted marshmallow on a graham cracker. Not just because of the taste but also because Gabriella was currently having a difficult time removing the sticky marshmallow from her face, "Need some help?"

Gabriella snuggled in closer to Troy as the wind blew across her face. It was almost bitter cold in the dark. Her back was leaning against one arm of the chair they were sitting in and her legs were slung over the other almost in a cradling position. Troy had one arm wrapped around her back and the other was free to handle the supplies needed for their dessert, "Well my lovely fiancé, when we get married aren't you supposed to promise to help me in my time of need?"

Troy took her teasing comment as confirmation to remove the sticky sweetness from the corner of her mouth. He kissed once before pressing his pair more firmly in the same spot. Slowly, he parted his lips and slid his tongue over the loose skin in the corner of her mouth. The sweetness of sticky residue mixed with the slightly salty taste of her skin made for the perfect mixture.

Gabriella caved in to Troy's mouth and moved her head slightly, allowing her lips more access to his own. Some of it was still surreal to her, that Troy was here holding her while they sat fireside waiting for fireworks. It was still going to take a while for her to realize he wasn't going anywhere. When they pulled apart Gabriella rested her head on his chest and Troy lifted his cold hand to twirl one of her curls around his finger.

Sighing at the comforting hold she'd missed the past eighteen months, she questioned, "Any New Years Resolutions?"

Troy paused, he hadn't made any specific resolutions. There were things he wanted to accomplish this year, mainly marrying Gabriella and resettling back into his normal life, but no specific resolutions, "Not really."

"Me either," she responded as they heard crackling. Gabriella's head snapped up like a little kid's on the fourth of July. It was a false start however, there was no gleaming sparks flying in the air.

"Don't worry, we are outside. I don't think we'll miss much," Troy joked at her response. The fireworks should have been starting any minute. It was scheduled to begin at 11:50. They would be short but explosive.

"Is it just me thinking this, or does this seem like one of the turning points in our relationship? I mean, not specifically today, but this general time span," Gabriella questioned, feeling as though she might be reading too much into it.

As Troy thought about it, he realized there had been a few major turning points in their relationship since they'd meet. The first being when Troy was ten and Gabriella was nine and her father had been arrested. That was when Troy's family had really stepped up to help Maria out.

The next being, of course, the beginning of their romantic relationship as well as Gabriella's eating disorder. That had been the most crucial and tender part of their relationship until Troy had left for war.

Leaving for college had been the next turning point. They had left their high school relationship at home and spent many nights apart while Troy was traveling for basketball. Troy had also changed his career path to teaching from professional basketball. For the first time, too much pressure had been placed on him to be such an amazing basketball player.

Graduating college and moving in was obviously the next turning point. They had moved in together and put their relationship to the real test. They had spent many nights together but they both had to adjust to sharing everything except toothbrushes. They had their ups and downs, more ups than downs, but both had to compromise on certain things to make their domestic life fit.

Which lead them to the last year and a half. The most difficult time period of their relationship. If they could make it through Troy leaving for war, they could make it through anything.

This upcoming year, would be their year. Compared to everything they'd been through together, nothing bad could happen. They were going to get married and soon start a family. Many times they had talked about how the 'rest of their life' was starting, but this truly would be the year to start the 'rest of their lives' and it would be spent together and in bliss.

"It is," Troy agreed and looked down at her face. She was really beautiful in the glow of the fire.

"This year we're going to get married and start our lives together," she spoke, their lives had honestly started together ten years ago.

"I know, from now on we're going to be referred to as the Boltons. Are you ready for that?" He knew their lives wouldn't change all that much when they got married but when they decided to start their family, major changes would take effect.

"I can't wait to change my name," Gabriella smiled, that was one of the things she was looking forward to the most, "I've been thinking a little and I really want your Dad to walk me down the aisle."

As much as his father's role in Gabriella's life had been emphasized as fatherly, something must have happened between when he left and now, "I think he'd be honored if you asked him."

"He's helped me a lot Troy," she paused trying to gauge Troy's reaction, "He called me at least once a week while you were gone to check up on me. It may not seem like much, but it was nice to know he cared."

"My family cares about you Ella. You were the closest thing they had to me while I was gone," he knew how scared everyone had been for him at home.

"I know they do. They're my second family," that was another thing Gabriella loved about being Troy's girlfriend, "I hope that we can be as good of parents as your parents are."

"Me too Ella," Troy knew his parents were special. They loved and cared about him and his brothers as well as Gabriella. They threw themselves into parenting and he loved that anyone that was brought into the house was treated with respect.

Before their conversation about kids could escalate into anything they both saw the beginning of the fireworks. They sat and watched in silence, mostly because of the loud echoes created from the explosives. Gabriella allowed her hand to lace with Troy's unoccupied hand.

The fireworks were coming to a close, as displayed by the grand finale in front of them. Gabriella reached into her pocket to remove her cell phone to check the time. 11:59, Gabriella held it up for Troy to see. Sitting up to ready herself for their midnight kiss, she heard the counting of the people who had taken advantage of the chairlifts to watch the show from the top of the mountain. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…

As the final firework exploded she felt Troy angle her better for their kiss. She took one final look in his eyes before he gently kissed her lips. This was definitely going to be their year.

This is what life was supposed to be like. Troy and Gabriella together, not having to worry about anything. This is what they had pictured their future to be like. Everything they had imagined happening in the future was in the present and in a couple of years they would hopefully have their own babies running around. Instead, they would probably be watching the fireworks from the top of the mountain trying to tame their little kid from running off in the dark night.

* * *

They had spent a few minutes outside in peace after their midnight kiss to soak in the feeling of truly being together. Afterwards they walked into their room to get ready for bed. Both were exhausted and decided to go to bed. It wasn't that they didn't want to connect in more ways, tonight would be the night that they could feel close simply by holding each other in bed.

As she slid in the bed, Troy rolled over from his side to face her and smiled gently and tiredly. He patted the bed in indication for her to slide in close to him. Their bodies pressed together, chest to chest, on top of the firm bed. Troy wrapped his arm firmly around her and kissed her on the forehead.

"When do you want to have kids?"

Troy was slightly in shock at the bluntness of her statement, although it wasn't necessarily unexpected. With the conversation they'd had earlier, he'd suspected it would continue. One of the only topics they hadn't covered, but had referenced, was kids, "I guess I'm not sure. Once we feel settled completely, I guess we could start trying. Or maybe when we get more space, if we decide to buy a house."

She considered his response, what she had anticipated coming. "That sounds nice. I still can't believe we're getting to the point that we're getting ready to have kids."

"Me either. Time goes by so fast," Troy couldn't believe it either, they'd been together so long and now the moment was coming to turn their relationship into something larger than both of them.

"It's exciting though, getting married and starting our own family," they were officially venturing into unknown territory.

"You'll be a great mom," he wasn't sure about his own parenting skills, but Gabriella was definitely going to be amazing.

Gabriella wasn't so sure but was satisfied with his responses. She'd always wanted kids but ever since holding her future niece, she had wanted it even more, "When you proposed, I thought that we'd definitely get married and have a kid before Matt."

"I think everyone thought that," Troy had proposed before Matt but they had planned on waiting a year before getting married. The year they planned to take advantage of had been shortened to a few months. While they had decided not to rush into marriage, Matt had proposed and planned his wedding so that Troy could attend, "But maybe there was a reason we had to be apart for a while."

"What do you mean?" She wasn't catching on to where he was leading. Neither had ever thought that they would benefit from being apart for such a long period of time.

"What if we needed the time apart to establish the fact that we can live without each other? Ever since high school we have been together, living in the same city. We've never had time to really realize that we have a relationship that is strong enough to withstand a significant amount of time."

Gabriella considered his comment. Many of the couples who survived from high school had dealt with separation for somewhat of a period of time. He was right, they never had gone through that crucial survival period in their relationship, "Even if you are right, it still sucked."

Troy chuckled at her response, she was a lawyer and never liked to admit anyone else was right. He had learned that letting her have her way was easier than arguing. It was a rare moment, "I never said that it didn't suck."

Gabriella let a yawn escape from her mouth, it was well past midnight. "Let's get some sleep, we have a couple of days with lots of driving ahead of us."

When she rolled onto her side, Troy took it as a cue to drape his arm over her stomach. He used his other hand to move his pillow closer to hers as he pressed his front side to her back. Pressing a kiss against the back of her head he whispered, "Goodnight."

"'Night Wildcat," she replied half asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So, I'm back. My life will be a lot less busy than I've been in the next few weeks. I've been really busy finishing up the figure skating season and healing after my trip to the hospital last week due to using minty shampoo (I'm allergic to artificial mint flavoring.) Anyway, spring break is next week and I'll be in France and England but you'll probably get quite a few updates while I'm there because I won't really be doing all the touristy stuff since I used to live there.**

**WE BROKE 100 REVIEWS! AHHH! I love you all so much, I was so excited! Thanks for taking the time to review, it means SO much to me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Taking one last look around the bathroom Gabriella checked to make sure everything was packed for their weeklong trip to Albuquerque. It wasn't a big deal if they forgot any of their toiletries, toothpaste, shampoo, razors, everything would be easy enough to buy if they forgot it. She had this gut feeling she was forgetting something though, mentally she ran through a list in her mind, clothes, underwear, toiletries, laptop, cell phone, chargers, she had everything. Maybe it was just the perfectionist in her.

"We better get going soon if we want to make it in time for dinner," Troy leaned against the doorway of their bathroom spinning the car keys around his finger. They'd driven home yesterday after skiing. He was slightly hesitant to leave home again after being gone for so long but it would be worth it, going home and seeing his family.

"I don't know what I'm forgetting," she sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"You aren't forgetting anything El," his impatience was beginning to rise, "So let's go now."

Taking one last final glance around the room she walked toward the exit.

"If it was something important, you'd remember it," Troy helped her get over her worry.

"I guess you're right," shrugging her shoulders, "You want to drive?"

"Sure," He'd only driven minimal amounts since he had been home. Gently, he picked up his duffle bag and grasped the handle of her suitcase and Gabriella lead the way carrying her purse and a bag containing her laptop, notebooks, and a few bundles of papers for work she intended to work on sometime the upcoming week. Together, they took the elevator down to the parking garage, smiling at others they recognized that lived in the apartment building. Most of their neighbors were fairly new and Troy probably didn't know.

Once the car was packed they exited the parking ramp, heading toward the freeway. Nine hours and they would be in the comfort of their childhood home. Troy turned the knob on the radio down while Gabriella called their mothers to inform them that they were on their way home. When she hung up Gabriella began fiddling with the radio, going from station to station, briefly listening to each song as they passed.

Troy snorted, "What the hell is this?"

Music vibrated through the speakers of the car, an almost techno futuristic beat reaching to his ears.

Gabriella giggled, the song wasn't the most creative to say the least, "Like a G6."

Troy's nose immediately scrunched, "As in the air plane?"

"Yep," Gabriella cranked the volume up and began bobbing her head back and forth jokingly. It was a fairly easy song to bob your head to.

"This is ridiculous," Troy rolled his eyes at the song unimpressed, "Not really your type of song either."

"Oh, you know how much I love over played radio songs," she continued to play along.

Finally Gabriella resumed her search for an okay radio station. She began to get slightly frustrated passing by classical, Christian, and Spanish channels, none of them suiting the proper road trip music selection.

"I see the music industry has really become creative since I left," he spoke as she passed a station playing something he could only describe as yodeling.

"Very," she said landing on a station she thought they'd be able to handle for more than five minutes. The latest Train song was playing.

Gabriella pulled a notebook out of her bag along with a pen. It was about two years old now, yet she hadn't opened it once. The cover was white, purposely picked out to fit the theme. Her large, loopy, writing covered the front along with a few loopy designs on the cover. She never forgot where she left it after he left for war, it lay untouched in their hall closet in a box along with the few magazines she had purchased intending to cut out images and paste them in the notebook. It was labeled, 'T+G Wedding'.

Never having doodled her and Troy's name in a heart or Mrs. Gabriella Bolton, she had looked forward to the moment she could, deciding that when she was engaged was the appropriate time. Flipping over the front cover she debated what the first entry would be. She wasn't sure whether she should just start a to-do list or leave the page open for her to doodle on or put something important. Flipping the first page also, she began her to-do list on the next page.

After titling it she began a neat bullet lined list starting with the most important items; church, flowers, dress, reception location, invitations, rings, bridesmaids/groomsmen, food, photographer, cake, and her mind began to run out of ideas at band/dj.

Biting the edge of her pen, one of her bad habits, she didn't know what else to add. Not that she needed more, it was a lot to thing about just writing it down on paper, "Everyone's going to think we're crazy."

"What do you mean?" Troy assumed she had been doing some work but didn't know what prompted her statement.

"Planning a wedding in two months," flipping another page, she decided the next one should probably be used for working on rationing their budget, "How much do you think we should plan on spending?"

Troy's face paled slightly, in all honesty he had no idea what their financial situation was, he knew the government had paid off his college debts, but he knew they still had to be paying off some of the loans they had taken, "I'm not sure."

Gabriella stared at the blank page, "I don't even have a ballpark guess as to what a normal wedding budget is."

"We can talk to Matt and Julia, I mean their wedding was a bit bigger than I picture ours to be but at least we'll have something to base it off," Troy stated.

"It seems like such a long time ago they got married," Even if it only was two years ago.

"I know," Troy paused, he'd been deferring from questioning about Matt, Julia, and his niece for a reason, he was slightly jealous, "What's her name?"

"What's whose name?" Gabriella asked confusedly about his question.

"My niece," he replied quietly, feeling a little ashamed of not remembering his own niece's name.

Gabriella realized that she must not have mentioned her name before, "Sophia, but we call her Sophie."

"That's nice," he noted, not really sure what to mention about the name. It wasn't that he didn't like it, he just hadn't thought too much in depth about names.

"Mhmm," Gabriella fiddled with her phone while waiting for a response from her mother, "We should go on a double date with Mom and Marcus while we're down there."

"Definitely," Troy hadn't been sure how comfortable Gabriella really was about her mother's new relationship while talking over the phone. She had seemed happy about it but both of them had been high on love at the announcement of Troy's departure, "What's he like, other than the fact that he mows lawns and builds patios?"

"I guess I don't know much, he's a research scientist and has two kids. He's somewhere around mom's age and divorced. After his second kid was born his wife left him to go out and 'dance,'" Gabriella hinted at the reason he was out dating.

"That's harsh," he shivered at the thought of being dumped for such a lame reason.

"Commitment just isn't what all people want I guess," she shrugged her shoulders.

"It'll be nice to see Maria with someone though. She's had to have been somewhat lonely," Troy didn't even want to think about what it'd be like to loose a spouse, "Especially after you moved out."

"I think that she's starting to realize that, even though it's still quite a few years away, she's going to have to retire and she doesn't want to be alone," Gabriella truly wanted her mother to be happy, whether it be with a man or not.

"Just think, if they get married you'd have step siblings," Troy knew it was a little early to be talking about marriage but he didn't doubt that the relationship was committed at this point.

"I know," Gabriella rested her head on the window, watching the clouds formations around the mountain tops they were passing.

A few moments of silence passed as they neared the New Mexico border, "Do you want to stop and get some lunch?"

They were nearing a restaurant at the very edge of Colorado, one that they ate at almost every time they made the journey to New Mexico.

"Sure," Gabriella smiled at the thought of food.

* * *

Troy drove his mid-sized crossover Acura RDX into the familiar driveway of his parent's house. It had taken a while for him to stop calling it his home after he'd moved out. Throughout college, he had considered it home while living in dorm rooms and small apartments. Until Troy had moved into his apartment with Gabriella, he truly considered it home, and it would always be his home. Now, he considered his apartment in Colorado home. Even if it wasn't a permanent house for him and Gabriella to live in, it was still home. It had taken a while for him to realize that maybe it wasn't the structure that made a home, but the people contained in it.

Looking over at a sleeping Gabriella, he trailed the back of his fingers down her arm gently before applying a little more pressure to wake her up, "Ella, baby, we're here.'

Gabriella opened her eyes before quickly shutting them, the rays of the New Mexico sun were too bright for her pupil's to contain in such a quick motion. Stretching her arms above her head, she let out a gentle yawn, "How long ago did I fall asleep?"

"About an hour and a half," he smiled at her gentle face, she was as adorable as always. Deciding to lean in for a quick kiss, Troy tucked a curl of her untamed hair behind her ear. After pecking her lips, he gently pressed his lips underneath her left earlobe with a smile on his face, "You're too beautiful for your own good."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Okay Romeo, let's get moving. Your mother is probably almost dying with anticipation."

Troy opened the door, not being able to wait any longer either. He had come to appreciate his mother more and more everyday. She had helped him through the toughest decisions he'd had to make in his life, raised him to be a gentleman, and was always there whenever he simply needed a hug. She had also been the first one to find out that Gabriella and him were dating and accepted it while lecturing him on the severity of dating a best friend, making it clear that if something were to happen things between them would never be the same.

Gabriella was the first to make it to the trunk and began to slide out their organized luggage. Troy slung the duffle bag over his shoulder and grabbed the suitcase while Gabriella took care of the lighter bag and her purse, "Ready?"

"Yep, let's go," Troy motioned for Gabriella to lead the way, noting Maria's small sedan and a car with a car seat in it, presumed to be Matt and Julia's. The wheels of the suitcase clicked over each crack of the brick walkway. Gabriella opened the door quietly, faintly hearing laughter coming from the living area attached to the kitchen. Setting her bags down with Troy near the steps, he allowed his voice to drift through the house, "Mom? We're here."

Suddenly the laughter from the living room stopped and Lucille's head popped out from around the corner. For the first time in the nineteen years she'd known her, Gabriella watched as Lucille literally bounded down the hallway in somewhat of an odd run.

Lucille was miserably struggling to hold her tears back as she wrapped her arms around her son, she began to repeatedly whisper, "My baby, my baby." Jack had found her in various places around the house, Troy's bedroom, their bedroom, the living room, looking at pictures of their son in his childhood with tears dripping down her face, whispering, "My baby, my baby" when she thought no one was around.

Numerous members of the Bolton family streamed in, one-by-one, to welcome Troy home. Gabriella occupied them while Lucille hogged her son and whispered, "I love you Troy."

"I love you too Ma," the words 'I love you' had been thrown around a lot more since they learned of Troy's deployment, but hadn't been thrown around lightly. However, to an outsider, it would be quite the sight seeing a family with five men throwing the term around to each other.

Gabriella hugged Jack first, "How's he doing?" he questioned.

"Still adjusting, he'll be fine though," Gabriella didn't take offense when Jack abruptly left her standing when Lucille let go of Troy.

Jack stepped up to Troy and threw an arm around him, "How ya doing son?"

Gabriella knew that Jack had been the one to hold up the family through birthdays, holidays, and any day in general that had been particularly difficult for the family to get through without Troy, which explained her surprise when she saw Jack swipe his eyes to prevent a tear of happiness from falling.

"I'm good," there wasn't much he could say now about the past few days. Everyone understood, except for Troy, when Liam stood up next to hug him. Gabriella hugged her own mother and they continued to watch each member of the Bolton family step up to hug Troy and recite 'I love yous' or 'I missed yous.'

"How've you been," Even though she'd already had her reunion with Troy, she knew she couldn't get through this without letting a tear or two drop.

"Great," she responded to her mother, who was waiting to give her future son-in-law a hug, but being respectful, waited for everyone to have their moment with him.

"How's Troy been?" Maria questioned, wanting more of a response than the 'good' Gabriella had given Jack.

Gabriella sighed, knowing that Troy's return home had been more difficult than anyone had expected, "He just gets a little freaked out every now and then, you know? He's so worried about the future, he just needs to relax a little."

Maria shook her head in understanding and squeezed Gabriella's shoulder encouragingly, "He'll be fine honey, trust me. War is so traumatic, it takes a while to heal."

"I know, it just freaks me out seeing him vulnerable."

"Well, it's your job as his future wife to hold him up during rough periods of time," Maria passed on her own relationship advice.

"I know," Gabriella responded, seeing Lucille swoop in for a hug. The two rocked back and forth gently with large smiles on their faces. Troy was finishing up, hugging Julia and Maria stepped forward for her turn. Her daughter had stolen the man's heart and was about to become family, officially.

After Maria had given him an appropriate kiss on the cheek, a hug, and a few words of encouragement, Gabriella was discussing something with Lucille when she felt Troy slip his arms around her waist from behind, her immediate response was to giggle. She tilted her head up to look at him and accepted a surprise kiss.

People began trailing out of the crowded foyer, back into the living room. Troy and Gabriella stayed for a second or two longer than everyone else to sneak a few quick kisses.

Troy picked her up and spun her in a circle, Gabriella squeaked out a "Put me down Troy," in the midst of laughter. Placing his hand on her cheek he bent his head down and softly pressed his lips to hers, once, twice, and he whispered a soft, "I love you."

Gabriella mimicked his previous actions, "I love you too."

They joined everyone else, minus Lucille who was checking up on dinner, and found an open spot on the couch. Troy pulled Gabriella on his lap to conserve space.

"What have you crazy kids been up to the past few days?" Jack questioned, making small talk.

"Oh, we've been living it up," Troy responded in his natural sarcastic nature, "You know, hitting the slopes, shopping, eating, hanging out at home," he squeezed Gabriella tight at his last remark, "We're really rebellious."

The boys all chuckled at Troy's response. "Hey now, from what I hear, you've spending your free time changing dirty diapers," Troy accused Matt.

"You got me," Matt held his hands up. His life had been interesting in different ways lately.

"Speaking of, where's the baby?" Sophie was the only Bolton lacking a presence currently.

"Napping, like always," Mason commented.

"Except at midnight," Liam reminded of how the baby had disturbed their sleep more than once.

"Oh shush now," Lucille scolded her younger sons, "You guys were like that too, I'm sure Troy and Matt remember. Come on now, dinner's ready."

To eat dinner together, they had to eat at the large table in the dining room and pull up extra chairs from the small breakfast bar in the kitchen.

Sitting down, everyone in the room felt loved and cherished. The family, even though living in three different states, felt united. Everything seemed perfect as couple's slid hands under the table and childhood memories were brought up and discussed with embarrassment.

* * *

After dinner was finished, everyone gathered in the living room once again. Dinner conversations carried over and everyone was munching on brownies. Gabriella was sat between Troy's legs on the floor and was gently stroking Troy's arm that was wrapped around her waist.

"Let's go out and play some ball," Matt was the first to initiate the ever important post-dinner basketball game that was held almost every night.

The men, Jack, Matt, Liam, and Mason all stood up to change into their basketball shorts, it was known that shirts were pointless because they'd come off shortly after the game began. Troy made no sign of movement.

Gabriella turned her face to talk to Troy, but in the opposite direction of Lucille, Julia, and Maria who were sitting on the couch perpendicular to them, "Aren't you going to go play?" She whispered quietly.

Troy's response was a simply shoulder shrug.

Gabriella stroked his arm a little harder, "Come on baby, go play with your brothers."

Troy's arm tightened in response, she seemed to be having a single ended conversation.

"Babe, what's up?" It was odd he didn't want to go out and play basketball with his brothers.

"I'm perfectly comfortable right here," was all he'd allowed to be spoken.

"We'll come out and watch in a few minutes," she said, "Now go play ball with your family, we've had each other to ourselves the past few days, I think you can spare a few minutes for your family."

Troy took the hint to go outside with his family, "You'll be out soon?"

"Yes, we'll all be out soon," she confirmed, noting that once again he wasn't ready to be separated from her, even if he was just going outside.

He peppered a kiss to her cheek before he stood up, and Gabriella did too, simply to move to the now unoccupied reclining chair.

She joined in with the girl's small talk, something about Julia getting a baby swing. The men passed through to the backyard half court fairly quickly and as soon as the last one closed the door the previous conversation seized.

"Have you two planned anything for the wedding?" Lucille questioned giddly.

"Jeez, everyone's been asking me about that, and no we just picked the church we told you about and a general time frame," Gabriella said, not wanting to commit to a certain date without Troy.

"Ooh, when are you guys thinking? Summer wedding? That could be so pretty, you could have the reception outside," Julia started, excited at the possibility of maybe helping her sister-in-law with planning her wedding.

"Umm, we were actually thinking March," Gabriella quietly stated, knowing that her family probably wouldn't approve of the early date, "Late March, when Troy's on spring break probably."

"March!" Julia and Maria exclaimed in unison, before Maria continued, "Gabriella, that's in three months! How do you plan on getting everything ready by then?"

She pulled her legs up to her chest, Troy would be able to tell that she was nervous if he was in the room, "I'm not sure, but we just want a small wedding. Family and a few friends, fifty people tops."

"Still Gabriella, you have to get a dress, flowers, cake, reception hall," Lucille continued.

"I know, I know," her frustration was beginning to grow, she was well aware she'd have to bust her ass to get the wedding ready on time, "But we just want to get married. It's well overdue and the sooner the better. We really don't care about anything else, we love each other and we just want to get married."

"Gabi, honey, we just want you to know that it's going to be hard to plan a wedding that soon, okay?" Lucille told her, "But we're all here to help out."

"We want you guys to get married soon too, we aren't trying to discourage it. Everyone thinks you guys deserve the best wedding possible," Maria excused.

"Troy and I want a small wedding, I told you that. We want family and maybe a few of our good friends from college and Denver, nothing over the top," Gabriella hadn't even told any of her friends from high school that Troy had gone to war. Many of them probably didn't even know that they were still together, it would be awkward to invite them. Unlike the few friends she made in the Denver area, she didn't see having future relations with them. If friendships were meant to be, they would have kept in touch.

"That's fine, if that's what you guys really want," Maria said with acceptance.

"We aren't big on the massive blow out weddings. We'd rather have a wedding than a party," Gabriella finished explaining herself.

"Well, we should go dress shopping this week," Lucille spoke, knowing that Gabriella may be the only one of her future daughter-in-laws that she was close enough to and would willingly bring her dress shopping. Lucille was terrified of the typical mother-in-law stereotype, however she didn't think any of her son's girlfriends could down right hate her.

"That'd be fun," Gabriella said, knowing that she wouldn't want to share the experience with anyone other than her mother and Lucille.

"My baby's getting married," Maria had repeated the words many times since the engagement, realizing her baby wasn't really a baby anymore.

"Let's go outside and watch the boys finish their game," Gabriella said and stood up, wanting to deviate from the discussion.

The other girls followed and when Gabriella made it outside, she saw Troy wink at her with a big smile on his face. She was happy he was having fun, doing something he loved. At the end, the game was somewhat tied, the only time any of the Bolton's would loose track of the score accidentally. Really, it didn't matter.

Gabriella walked into Troy's childhood bedroom, which was still adorned with their high school and college pictures and Matt's bed. Matt and Julia were staying in what was once the guest room, which had more space to fit a portable crib for baby Sophie and to give both couples the needed privacy.

Rubbing moisturizer into her face, she sat at the edge of the bed where Troy was currently sitting, "You looked like you had fun out there."

"I did," he was freshly showered and Gabriella gently picked up his foot and began to knead.

Noticing him wince slightly when she bent his ankle, she wouldn't let him get away with it, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just sprained it a few weeks ago at war," knowing he should have mentioned it to the doctor a few days ago, but it had been fine. He'd barely noticed the pain while at war because he was so concentrated but the un-properly healed sprain had made itself noticeable while running around on the court.

"Do you want me to tape it for you?" Gabriella had received many sprains playing soccer in high school and had gotten fairly decent at taping ankles, especially during college when Troy was on the basketball team.

"Sure," Troy watched as Gabriella exited and returned, having made a trip to the bathroom where a first aid kit sat underneath the sink.

Gabriella kneeled on the ground and Troy moved to the edge of the bed, placing his foot in a flexed position on Gabriella's knee. Winding the tape round and round, "Can you flex anymore?"

"No," Troy knew she always checked before finishing, to make sure it was as tight as possible.

Once she ripped the tape, Troy thanked her. Gabriella placed the roll of tape on Troy's bedside, saving it for later. Troy moved back to his side of the bed as Gabriella slid off her shorts and turned her back to lift her, Troy's actually, shirt up, but left it around her neck while she could removed her bra. Not moving all the way over, Troy's hands beat hers to the clasp of her bra, which he unhooked for her. Sliding it down her arms, she let it drop to the floor and pulled Troy's shirt back over her body. Climbing into bed, she flicked of the light and allowed Troy's arm to wrap around her waist. Feeling his lips press against her neck she groaned, "Not now Troy."

"Come on baby, live a little," Troy whispered while gently rolling her from her side to her back and crawling so that he was half on top of her.

"Troy, we're in your parents house," she scolded all while whispering.

He continued to press kisses along her neck, allowing his lips to trace her defiant jaw line and around the curves of her ear, "So what."

"Baby, we can't do it in your parent's house. People will hear us," she was beginning to weaken more and more with each kiss.

He chuckled, "But we can do it at your mom's house?"

"When she's not home," when their relationship had furthered, sexually, Troy's house had been avoided during intimate time. His mother was always home and they'd surely get caught. Gabriella's house had been safe because her mother worked late a lot or was gone for days at a time on business trips.

"So you're saying that if my Mom isn't home sometime this week, we can do it here?" He pushed the subject further.

"Maybe, if everyone is out of the house," it was odd, but Gabriella realized that Troy and her had never actually gone all the way at his house.

"Challenge excepted," he let his kisses slow, to weaken his excitement, "However, if I can't make it happen, we might have to sneak out and spend the day at your Mom's. I don't think I can wait a week."

"You've done it longer before," she reminded him.

"I know, but you weren't wearing my shirt and taking your bra off right in front of me," he groaned at her earlier actions.

"Shh," she giggled, trying to keep quiet knowing there were other people just through the war. She let Troy pull her close to him, so that their bodies were plastered together.

* * *

**So this story is going to drag on a little longer than I thought. I know it seems like all they do is go to bed, get up, go to bed, get up, etc. but I promise you'll have some sweet moments with Liam and some variety with dinner with Marcus etc. I'm not sure how many chapters it's going to be exactly, but I do know that it'll end at their wedding and then there will be an epilogue.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I know it's taken a long time. Quite honestly I hate this chapter, I've rewritten it over and over and I can't find a way to make it any better. It's also very short but I just told myself that at some point I'd have to publish it. So I'm sorry. For the wait, especially.**

**Reviewers: I Love You so much. Like Troy and Gabriella. THAT'S HOW AWESOME YOU ARE!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line**

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"Are you sure I can't come?" Troy questioned Gabriella for the third time.

"I'm absolutely positive Troy," Gabriella didn't want to make the move of rolling her eyes at him because she knew he was still quite a bit sensitive.

"Please?" Troy's despair wasn't necessarily because he didn't want to be separated from her, not that he wanted her to leave, but partly because she had taken to changing into white lingerie right in front of him.

"Troy, that's bad luck," He'd been begging to come with ever since she'd mentioned dress shopping last night.

"So what? I don't think luck is ever going to be on our side," her departure was getting closer. She was leaving in a half hour.

"If you think like that than it never will be," she placed both of her hands on his cheeks, "I just want to do something in a traditional way. The dress just happens to be that."

Troy puckered his lips and she gave in, pressing a light kiss to his lips, "Why do you want to come with so much anyway? You never want to go shopping with me."

"Because this is different," He shrugged his shoulders like that explained everything.

"Don't worry, I'll pick the right dress," She jokingly mocked, walking away from him.

"I have no doubt," Troy stayed in his spot, even as she walked out of the room.

Maria arrived on time, punctual as always, a while later and they found themselves browsing through a small boutique, totally clueless. Nothing seemed to suit Gabriella well enough for her to even try on.

"How about this one?" Lucille held up a mermaid style dress with crystals covering much of the bodice. The last one she held up had been too plain for Gabriella.

Her face scrunched up, "Too much sparkle."

She could tell her mother and Lucille were getting a bit frustrated with her. So far Gabriella had declined dresses of almost every shape, color, and design. None of the dresses had particularly stuck out. Searching through the dresses, one in particular stood out to her. It was a simple structure, A-line with a flower under the bust line that tied in the back, "What do you guys think of this?"

"It's very Gabriella," Maria said with a smile on her face.

Lucille nodded, "You should try it on."

Gabriella took another glance and for the first time in the experience she felt a little hopeful, "Troy would like it too."

"My goodness, my baby's getting married," Gabriella giggled with the two other women, "Do you see any other dresses you want to try."

Gabriella shook her head and went toward the back of the store to find a dressing room.

* * *

Troy sat at a table in a pizza shop near his parent's house in Albuquerque with his youngest brother Liam. No one else in the house wanted to come with, not that either of them really minded.

"Gabriella told me she took you shopping last week," Troy struck up conversation.

Liam looked up, "Yeah she did."

"So, you like Gabriella?" He questioned his younger brother.

Liam chuckled, "Of course I do. She's like my sister."

"Good, because I'm still going to marry her, whether you like her or not," Troy said with a smirk on his face and laughed, "Did you talk to her while I was gone?"

"Yeah, she called a lot and she always came over when she came down for holidays and stuff," Liam was talking with food in his mouth.

"She was telling me about the time you spent together and I've been thinking," Troy himself took a bit of his pizza, "I wanted to talk to you first but Gabriella and I wanted you, Alex, and Mason to be the groomsmen in the wedding."

"Really?" Liam perked up a little.

"Yeah," Troy responded, feeling good about being with Liam that day, "Would you be up for it?"

"Of course."

* * *

"Stop trying to find it. It's not here, it's not at my mom's, and you aren't going to find it," Gabriella scolded Troy and his boyish behavior.

"Way to ruin my fun," He'd been searching through the various closets in the house.

"Do you really think I'd hide my wedding dress in your mother's kitchen?" Gabriella questioned Troy as he closed the door to the pantry he'd been looking in.

"You never know," He grinned his boyish grin at her and shoved the cookie he snuck in his mouth.

"I'm not stupid enough to leave it in a spot you'd be able to find it," She rolled her eyes at him.

Jack walked in the kitchen with an amused look on his face, "What are you two arguing about now?"

"Gabriella won't tell me where her wedding dress is," Troy pointed at her like it was her fault.

"You're not going to win that one son," Jack took a sip out of a water bottle, "Sorry."

"Fine, I cave," Troy walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her neck in a headlock and she kicked his knee in return.

"If you guys hadn't been together for so long," Jack started and rolled his eyes, "I'd say you'd never make it."

"Please, we're perfect," Troy shushed and lifted Gabriella so she was hanging over his shoulder in retaliation.

"Troy! Put me down!" Gabriella demanded.

Jack rolled his eyes, "That you are."

"I appreciate it," He nodded his head, "Now I have to go and straighten this girl out. Does she think she wears the pants in this relationship?"

"Oh please, you know I do," Gabriella said, feeling the blood rushing to her head from being upside down.

All Jack heard after Troy carried Gabriella into the living room was, "Ouch Gabriella, did you bite me?" and "Stop it before I drop you on the tile floor!"

In all actuality Troy ended up not so gently placing Gabriella on the couch. After squishing her into the fluffiness of the cushions, he began to question her, "What does it look like?"

Gabriella threw her head back and groaned, "I'm not telling you. I'm going to ban any discussion about the dress."

"Please Ella? Pretty Please?" Troy pressured her.

"No, I'm not telling you anything so leave it alone," she switched the conversation to another topic, "By the way, I told mom we'd go out to dinner with her and Marcus tonight."

"What time?" Troy questioned.

"We're meeting up at seven," she wrapped her arm around his abdomen.

"Sounds like a plan," Troy adjusted their bodies so that she was laying on top of his shoulder.

* * *

It was always strange seeing their old high school friends around Albuquerque. Especially when said friends had no idea that Troy had gone to war or that they were living in Colorado. Many were shocked to see that they were still together.

Seeing ex-boyfriends was even worse. However, it did feel good to know that said ex-boyfriend was working as a waiter. Karma's a bitch.

After the reunion, they joined Maria and Marcus at their table in the right hand corner of the room. Marcus struck up the conversation at the beginning, "I heard you coach basketball?"

"I did before I left," Troy explained, "I can't coach again until next year since it's in the middle of the season."

"My daughter plays," Marcus commented and earned a nod from Troy.

"Smart girl you've got there," Troy nodded his head in Gabriella's direction, "I tried to get her to play. She had potential, we played a lot growing up, but she never had interest in it."

"That was six years ago," she shook her head, "The guy never gives up."

"Stubbornness is in my nature," His eyes glanced over the menu, "What are you getting?"

"I was thinking you'd get a burger and I 'd get some sort of pasta, and we'd split it," She said, deciding for him.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Troy closed his menu, not needing to look at it much more.

"Fettuccini?" Gabriella asked, "Or ravioli?"

"Ravioli," Troy said and Marcus raised his eyebrow at Maria.

"They're always like that," She said, "Get used to it."

Gabriella, so engrossed in her menu, stuck her head up, "What?"

Maria shook her head, "Nothing."

Glancing at Troy she looked for answers, he just chuckled, "It's nothing El."

"Ok," She continued deciding on what she wanted to eat.

When the waiter came, Troy ordered for them both. "Cheeseburger, no tomato," Gabriella didn't like tomatoes, "And a ravioli."

Maria and Marcus took their own turns and they ordered an appetizer to share, "When do you start working again?"

"Middle of January," Troy said, "It'll give me some time to work on lesson plans and catch up to where everyone is in the school year."

"That's good," Maria said, "It'll be good to get back into a routine."

Troy smiled, "That's what she says."

"Good advice," Maria smiled, "You should listen to it."

"Oh, I always listen," Troy smiled back, "Whether I want to or not."

Gabriella kicked his knee for the second time that day, "Oh be quiet."

"It's true," They bantered back and forth.

* * *

The week they spent in Albuquerque provided a much needed relief from life. They planned for their wedding and became more joyful around each other while connecting with their families.

Which made leaving so much more difficult.

"Now, you call every week at the least," Lucille scolded while they stood in the doorway, car all packed and ready to go.

"I'll call much more than that," Troy bent to give his mother a hug, "I promise."

"Good," Lucille continued, "And don't forget to take care of my lovely future daughter in law."

"Of course not," He responded as Gabriella gave one final hug to his mother.

"You'll be back soon? We'll see you before the wedding?" She questioned, not wanting them to leave so soon.

"Hopefully," Troy said and grabbed Gabriella's hand to leave before they ended up staying for another night at the rate his mother was talking, "Bye Mom!"

"Bye Lucille," Gabriella spoke up, "Thanks for having us again."

"No problem sweetie," Lucille smiled and waved as they walked out the door, "Anytime! Really, just call! Actually you don't even need to call!"

Gabriella giggled as Troy tugged her out of the house, cutting Lucille off. After climbing into the passenger seat of the vehicle, she looked at Troy who said, "Finally."

"Please, you love them," Gabriella forced.

"Of course," he blew air out of his mouth, "But a week with them is plenty."

"Oh, can you remember the days that you lived with them _every single day?"_ She reminded him of the majority of his life.

"Yes, I can," He said focusing on the road, "And I much prefer living with you _every single day."_

"Good," she smiled at him, "Because in a few months you're stuck with me forever."

Placing his hand on her thigh, he risked a quick glance, "Forever it is."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Quite honestly, I'm really trying to wrap this story up. The plot I was going to further lean into, kind of flopped. The next chapter will probably be the last one, followed by an epilogue. I love this story, it's my first baby after all, but I can't see it going anywhere else. Plus I really really want to finish one of my stories before I make the big move to Australia for my exchange trip.**

**Disclaimer: The plot, and only the plot, is mine**

* * *

"You'll be fine baby," Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy's waist while he brushed his teeth. His nerves were beginning to arise about returning back to his job that day.

All morning he'd been nervously tapping his fingers against stuff, a clear sign. It'd actually begun to annoy Gabriella at some point.

"You've done it before," She reminded, assuring him it wasn't the first time. Troy rinsed out his mouth before wiping it clean on a towel.

"I know," Troy said and turned around to face her, "I don't know why I'm so nervous."

"Everybody will love you," She assured, "You only have three days until the weekend and I'll be home as quickly as I can finish."

"Don't rush yourself," Troy reached his hands out to pull her closer as he rested himself against the edge of their bathroom counter.

"I won't," Gabriella reached out, unbuckling his belt and unzipping the zipper. She pulled out the tail of his shirt that he'd tucked in, before re-tucking it, fixing it so that it looked even. Then she rebuckled his belt, "There, perfect."

Troy smiled, it was going to be the longest amount of time they'd spent apart since he arrived home. She'd returned to work almost a week ago but he had been visiting her at work, picking her up for lunch before dropping her back off for the rest of her day.

"Ready to go?" She questioned, glancing at the time on her cell phone.

Nervously, he glanced down as well, "I guess so."

"Troy, honey," Gabriella wrapped her arms around his neck before he could walk away, "You love teaching. Don't be nervous, you'll be fine."

"I know," once again he wrapped his arms around her, to make himself feel better.

"The day will fly by and before you know it we'll be home together," She rubbed his back as he kept a tight hold on her, not wanting to let go.

Troy nodded his head, "Okay."

"Now let's go before you're late," She tugged on his hand to follow her as she collected her purse, laptop, and handed Troy his backpack.

They walked together to their separate cars, Troy taking the cross-over and Gabriella the sedan. She stopped to say fare-well to him before driving away, "I love you."

"I love you too," He kissed her quickly as she embraced him in a sort of awkward hug due to the bags she had in her hand.

"Have a good day," She placed a final kiss on his cheek and turned to leave, "You'll do great! Call me on your lunch break."

"See ya later Ella," He said before opening the door to his car and dropping his backpack on the passenger seat. After pulling out of his spot, he saw Gabriella pass him and returned a wave to her as she passed by.

Troy arrived at school a half hour early, mandatory of all teachers, but with all the welcome back greetings he'd got from his co-workers he didn't arrive in his classroom until fifteen minutes later.

Looking around, he realized that it looked exactly like he left it. The desks were facing the same way and he still had his favorite soft, spinny, chair at his own desk. The posters of his basketball team were still up and his overhead projector was in it's normal spot.

On the back whiteboard there were numerous welcome back greetings, mostly from seniors and juniors he'd taught when they were freshman. Before the bell rang, he sat down at his desk to replenish his desk with pencils, highlighters, and paper that he'd bought a few days ago. He also pulled out his lesson plan along with some worksheets he planned on distributing to his eleventh grade A.P. European Literature class.

Finally, a few minutes before class started and students were starting to file in, he received a text from Gabriella.

_Good luck. Love you :D_

Troy smiled, knowing that she was so supportive and responded.

_Thanx. Love u too._

After announcements, he stood from his chair and walked to the front of the room, taking a deep breath, "Good morning class, I don't know if you remember me but I'm Mr. Bolton and I'll be your teacher for the rest of the year…"

* * *

Gabriella arrived home around four-thirty, an average of a half hour earlier than normal. However, since Troy had arrived home, she'd been working a lot less than while he was away. It was one of the ways she kept herself busy to keep from worrying about him all the time.

"Troy? Baby?" She shouted, walking into the house.

"In the kitchen," He responded.

Gabriella smiled, he sounded fine based on the tone of his voice. Walking in she spotted him standing over the kitchen counter, laying strips of pasta over his homemade lasagna, "What did I do to deserve this fabulous meal?"

"Be your awesome self," He smiled cheesily.

"So today went well I see," She dipped a piece from the loaf of bread sitting on the counter into the sauce pan sitting on the stove.

"Mhmm," He mumbled, finishing up the final layer.

"I'm always right," She teased back, stretching her neck toward him and motioning that she wanted a kiss.

Troy got the hint and returned a quick peck before sliding the lasagna around her into the oven, "That you are. How was your day?"

"It was work," She shrugged, "You know."

Troy set the timer so that the pasta wouldn't burn in the oven, "Are you saying you would've rather been home with me?"

"Always," She giggled as he picked her up and squeezed her tightly around the back.

Troy knew she loved her job, if she didn't she wouldn't have let them relocate to Colorado, "So you prefer me over Dan? Does he still work there?"

"Oh, you're much better than Dan," Gabriella laughed at the memory of her co-worker who persistently asked her out, "Nicer, sweeter, better fiancé, better cuddler, the whole shebang."

"Better in bed," He reminded, carrying on with her teasing, "Most importantly better basketball player."

"Oh definitely," She nodded her head, "Most important."

Troy slid his hand down to pinch her butt, "Okay, go change. Meet me in the living room."

"Yes sir," She responded and turned out of his grasp, hurrying to their room before Troy snapped the dishtowel at her butt.

After changing Gabriella returned to her fiancé, sitting on his lap on the couch upon returnal. Troy immediately moved to switch their position, somehow creating a pretzel like shape with their limbs.

Troy had a different idea on his mind than watching the picture on the television, "Are we supposed to get each other a present for the wedding?"

Gabriella shrugged, "I don't know. I think that a husband and a pretty ring is enough."

"I was thinking that since we're getting married and all," Troy paused and licked his lips, "And you love your job out here, I love my job out here, and Denver is home now, maybe we should start looking for houses."

"Are you sure?" Gabriella didn't doubt living in Denver in the future, she knew that Troy loved Albuquerque and that at some point wanted to go back, "I mean, you don't want to think about going back to Albuquerque when our contracts are over?"

"Mmm, Ella," Troy sighed, how many times he'd have to try and convince her that Denver was the place for them, "Colorado is _home. _For me _and _you."

"I know, it's just," Gabriella stressed, "A house is a big purchase. I have no doubt that Denver is home but I know that Albuquerque was home too."

"Was," Troy knew that Albuquerque was there past, "It _was _our childhood home. We grew up there, from children to teenagers. But Denver is where we really grew as adults and we grew together."

"But you know, that if you ever wanted to move back to Albuquerque, I'd do it, right?"

"Of course," Troy nuzzled his nose in her ear, "And if you wanted to, I'd do it too."

"This is so exciting," Gabriella twisted her engagement ring around her ring finger, "Getting married, buying a house."

"Yeah," Troy agreed, "Lots of change. Good change though, very good change."

* * *

It had been quite a long time since Gabriella slipped on her navy blue 'Puma' t-shirt but it felt great to do so. Troy wasn't as used to getting dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans for a basketball game, he'd always worn his uniform in high school and as a coach he dressed up in dress pants, a collared shirt, and tie. It didn't really matter what he was wearing though, it felt great to be able to actually go and support his team.

"We should get going now if we don't want to be late," Gabriella poked her head in their walk in closet, where Troy was changing. It was around six fifteen, the game started at seven. They wanted to calculate in driving time, buying tickets, and being able to see the line up.

"Okay," Troy turned his head toward her to acknowledge her presence. It was strange for him, not already being at the game giving a pep talk and running warm ups.

Upon arrival, they found themselves sitting on the bleachers eating the popcorn that Gabriella had convinced was absolutely needed. Even though she felt bad about it, Gabriella had to admit that she hadn't been to one of the games since Troy left. It was painful that Troy wasn't coaching.

A few students acknowledged Troy, some giving a simple hello, others asking about the due dates of assignments. It made Gabriella happy though, to see his students that seemed to think highly of him and appreciate him being back.

They had a few minutes before the lineup and the teams were out warming up on their respective sides of the court. Gabriella nudged Troy in the abdomen, "Troy…"

He could sense her tone of voice. Either she had gone out and done something stupid, like when she lost his lucky basketball when they were twelve, or she wanted something. Troy just looked at her and waited for her to respond.

"Can you pretty please," She drew out and wrapped her arms around his waist, not worrying about the fact that they were in a high school probably with parents of Troy's students, "Buy me a popcorn and piece of pizza?"

Troy chuckled, "By the tone in your voice, I anticipated you asking if we could get a pet cockroach or if I could lick the deodorant off your armpits."

Gabriella cracked up in laughter, "Lick the deodorant off my armpits, that's a good one. I'll have to remember that in case we ever have to play truth or dare."

"But yes," Troy nodded his head, "I will buy you, of all people, a salt loaded box of popcorn and a drenched in grease piece of cardboard pizza."

"Best fiancé ever," She followed Troy as he stood up and walked to concessions, grabbing his hand and throwing in a little jog to catch up with him, "That is, if you can lick the deodorant off my armpits."

"How about we forget I ever said that?" Troy suggested, looking back at her smirking face.

"It's just so memorable though," Gabriella teased in response, wrapping her arms around his waist as they stood in line.

"Hmm, they only have pepperoni or sausage," Troy noted, "Not both. What are we going to do?"

Gabriella once again laughed at his fake concern, "I have this great idea. But it's going to have to cost you."

"What could it possibly cost me?" Troy returned the gesture by resting his left arm around her, "I'm already paying for it."

"A kiss," She said in a 'duh' tone of voice.

"Wow, you really drive a hard bargain," Troy spoke sarcastically, "But I think I'll have to sacrifice."

Gabriella smiled and reached up on her tiptoes to meet Troy halfway in the kiss, however he only delivered a peck, "That does not count."

"That counts until he get home," Troy said sternly, only then did she realize he was probably a bit worried about their surroundings, and bent closer to her ear, "And then I can give you much more."

"Intriguing Bolton," Gabriella released one of her arms, so that she was no longer hugging him but still had an arm wrapped around him, "Here's the idea. We get one slice of sausage and one slice of pepperoni. We pick off half the pieces of pepperoni and sausage and dump them on the opposite piece."

"You, my love," Troy shook his head at her simple idea and didn't finish his statement until after ordering, "We'll take a slice of sausage and one of pepperoni. And a popcorn."

After exchanging money and change, Troy finished his statement, "You are very smart. I knew there was a reason that I wanted to marry you."

"Other than my amazingly good taste in deodorant scents?" She picked at him.

"Smelling good is just a bonus," Troy laughed.

"Thank you for my pizza," Gabriella said when they resumed to their spots.

"No problem," Troy rested his hand on her thigh.

* * *

**A/N: As always I love my reviewers so much and deeply appreciate the time you take to review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: For the last time, I own nothing**

"There's something wrong with me," Gabriella sighed exasperatedly into the phone.

"Gabi," Maria rolled her eyes from the other end of the phone line, "There is nothing wrong with you."

"Yes there is Ma," Gabriella tried to hold the phone to her ear using her shoulder, "There's a month until the wedding and I'm not nervous, not one bit."

"There's nothing to be nervous about," Maria comforted, "You love Troy, he loves you. Always has, always will."

"I know," Gabriella finally gave up on her google search, "It's not that, it's just, isn't there something I should be nervous about?"

"You sound plenty nervous to me," Maria chuckled, "Everyone gets nervous at some point, whether it be a year before the wedding, a month, a week, a day, an hour, or not until you're standing up there sliding rings on each other's fingers. Don't worry."

"I just want everything to be perfect," Gabriella mumbled, glancing around the empty apartment.

"Everyone does honey," Maria sympathized, "And let me tell you something, there's always going to be something that goes wrong."

Gabriella let a long stream of air blow out of her mouth, "I guess."

"Where's Troy?" Maria questioned, it only seemed to be when he wasn't home that she got worried calls from Gabriella.

"The gym," She explained, "The pumas are playing their last game and if they win they get to go to state. He's practicing with them."

"I see," Maria nodded, "I've got to go but don't worry about anything, okay? Everything's going to be just fine and perfect in its own way."

"Okay, thanks Mom," Gabriella sighed, "I'll see you soon. Bye."

After hanging up the phone, Gabriella practically slammed the lid of her laptop down and shoved it next to her on the couch. It was quiet in the apartment, a quiet that had once been very familiar but now was not as common as when Troy was gone. She flipped on the television, hoping to make her feel more comfortable while Troy was gone.

A half hour into an episode of _Sex in the City _Gabriella heard Troy's tennis shoes pounding against the floor of their apartment, "Ella, are you home?"

"In the living room," She responded before deciding to meet him halfway.

"Hey," Troy chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "I smell."

Gabriella giggled and turned her head away from his chest, "I know."

Troy tightened his arms around her anyway, "You seem awfully excited to see me."

"It was quiet here alone," Since Troy had started working again, they'd been trying to get home around the same time, to ensure the absolute maximum amount of time together each night. It wasn't always realistic, with Troy finishing work so early in the afternoon, but at least they had a set goal.

"Well I'm home now," Troy pressed a quick, soft, kiss to her lips, "I'm going to go shower. Maybe you could be an amazing fiancé and make me dinner?"

Gabriella sighed, "I'm not going to be a house wife Troy, you know that."

"I know, I know," He held up his hands in innocence as he walked back toward their bathroom, "But once, please?"

"I guess," She gave up after realizing she couldn't remember the last time that she made dinner.

"Thank you," Troy pointed at her, "You are awesome. Keep that in mind."

She sent him a fake smile, "Thanks."

Shuffling her feet, she walked into the kitchen, trying to figure out what she could make that wasn't cereal.

* * *

"Ella, ella, ella, eh eh eh," Troy sung along to the words of an old Rihanna song in a restaurant that Gabriella and him were dining at with some friends. Of course their friends weren't there yet, if they were he wouldn't be singing. At least, he wouldn't be singing sober.

"Troy, people are staring," Gabriella glared at him from across the top of her menu. No one would ever guess that Troy was a war veteran of just a few months.

"Am I embarrassing you," Troy took a dramatic pause and said her name a little too loud, "Ella?"

"Oh my God," Gabriella pulled her hand away as he tried to hold it from across the table.

"C'mon El," Troy coaxed, "Relax a little. It's the beginning of a long weekend. Stop being so stressed."

Her head dropped back against the back of the tall chair she was sitting in and didn't respond.

"Don't be mad at me," Troy nudged her foot under the table, hoping she'd give some effort to communicate with him, "Baby, relax."

"How am I supposed to? I've got all these cases and the wedding is in like three weeks," She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Gabriella," Troy demanded the attention from her, "Give somebody else one of the cases."

"No, I can't do that," She shook her head, "There's a reason my clients come to me and if I simply hand them over to someone else, they'll never hire me again."

"Explain to them that you're very busy at the moment and that it's nothing personal, you just can't take another case at the moment," Troy guided, "I haven't even heard you mention anything about the wedding in a week now."

"I'm sorry," She snapped at him, "I'm just trying to do my job."

Troy took his own turn holding the menu over his face, "I'm not trying to piss you off."

Before Gabriella could respond, she heard the overly cheery voice of someone behind her, "Gabriella! Troy! Sorry we're late we got caught up in-"

* * *

Gabriella shucked her boots off her feet and hung her coat over the doorknob of their coat closet without saying a word to Troy. She trudged to their bedroom, unbuttoning her skinny jeans on the way. After changing her top and sliding on a pair of pajama pants, she went to brush her teeth before heading out to the living room.

Troy followed suit, however at a slower pace, watching as she purposefully avoided him. Instead of following her to the living room, he decided to wait for her in bed, picking up the book his sophomore class was currently reading to get through a few chapters to refresh his memory.

A half hour later he realized Gabriella had no intentions of caving anytime soon and his eyes began to droop. Standing up, he shuffled his half naked body to the living room. Leaning against the wall the couch was on, he decided to make himself noticed, "Are you coming to bed anytime soon?"

Gabriella continued typing on her computer and shook her head.

"Fine," Troy grumbled and walked away, instead of turning left to their bedroom, he turned right into the kitchen. He grabbed the carton of Ben and Jerry's from the freezer as well as a single spoon. He returned to the living room and sat down next to her. Gently, he let his head drop down onto her shoulder as he flicked the television on.

Troy felt her stiff body soften as she sighed, "What are you doing?"

"If you're not going to bed, neither am I," His head remained on her shoulder as he opened the carton and began eating straight out of it.

"Do you really have to eat out of the carton?" Gabriella suggested as she kept typing, acting as though his actions weren't really affecting her.

"What does it matter?" He responded, "You and me are the only ones who are going to eat it."

Gabriella didn't respond and he flipped to a late night sports recap, "You don't have to wait for me."

Troy pretended she wasn't sending him a hint to leave, "I'm not going to bed alone."

Gabriella's fingers continued dashing over her keyboard. Troy held up a spoonful of ice cream for her to eat and she shook her head, "I just brushed my teeth."

"So did I," Troy glided the spoon in her mouth anyway and turned his head so he was able to kiss her shoulder, "I'm sorry for making you mad."

Troy could feel her shoulders tense up, "I'm sorry too, I'm just really stressed."

"I know," Troy wrapped his arms around her in a hug, restricting her typing, "Which is why I seriously want you to _consider _passing a case onto one of your colleagues."

Gabriella sighed and ran her hand through her hair, "I've never done that though."

"How many times have your colleagues passed on cases to you?"

"A lot," She responded.

"Exactly," Troy confirmed, "One time won't screw over your career Ella."

"Okay," She confirmed, knowing it would relieve some tension, "I'll consider it."

"Good," Troy released her, only to shut her laptop, "Now get up and in my bed. I can't sleep without you."

Gabriella giggled and playfully rolled her eyes as Troy placed his hands on her shoulders and guided the way, "That or you want to have sex."

"Hey," Troy said offensively, "I have not mentioned or suggested sex all night. So let's go get in bed and go to sleep."

"And cuddle," Gabriella added.

Troy chuckled in that manly way, not wanting to confirm what she said, "Whatever."

Troy kicked the door closed and nudged the light switch with his elbow as Gabriella dove onto the bed. He followed closely, pulling back the sheets and sliding under. Her leg quickly wrapped over the top of his and he pulled her back into his chest, brushing her hair away from her neck to press a light, not sexual, kiss to her neck. His arm tightened around her waist, making it seem like there was no space left between them.

* * *

"Please, please, Ella?" Troy begged over the phone, like always he'd made dinner everynight the past two weeks. Gabriella had taken the day off work, mostly so that she could pack for him before they left for Albuquerque oddly enough, "I love your cereal dinners."

Yes, that one night about a month ago she hadn't been able to come up with anything better than cereal, "Are you sure Troy?"

"It's one dinner," Troy shook his head, "We can survive eating cereal."

"Well if that's what you want," She sighed, glancing around their torn up room. Troy probably wouldn't be to happy about it when he arrived home, it certainly hadn't looked like this when he left.

"How's the packing going?" Troy asked, knowing she was more than stressed.

Lying, she responded, "Good."

Troy read right through it, "Relax Gabriella, relax."

They were leaving tomorrow for Albuquerque. To get married, "I can't."

"Shouldn't you be off getting your nails done or a massage or something? You should go and do that and _relax,"_ Troy attempted, she'd been on edge for a week now.

"No," She responded snappily, "I'm getting my nails done with our moms on Monday and we are getting massages on Wednesday, together, before we separate for the wedding. Don't you remember Troy?" She almost weepily responded.

"Gabriella, I do remember," He assured, trying to make her feel better, "Calm down, leave the packing for when I get home and go do something."

"I have to get this done Troy," She grumbled, not finding her clothing or rather lingerie collection good enough for their mini-honeymoon after the wedding.

"It won't be that hard for us to do when I get home," Troy spun around in his spinny chair when he thought he heard someone enter his door, "Why don't you go shopping for a new bikini for San Diego or something?"

That's where they were going for their mini-honeymoon. A little resort they had discovered while living in California and attending USC. They were headed down to Albuquerque tomorrow, Saturday, getting married on Thursday, and hopping on a plane Friday morning. Since it was a tight schedule from work, they planned on taking a longer vacation in the summer.

"I don't know Troy," It wasn't a bad idea necessarily, maybe she could get some new lingerie instead.

"Just go Gabriella," Troy smiled and teased, "I know you want to."

Gabriella laughed, "Okay, okay, I'll go."

"Good," Troy affirmed, "Don't worry about a thing."

"I'll try my best," Gabriella nodded as though he was in the room, "I love you."

"I love you too," Troy repeated, "I'll see you soon."

* * *

"Troy, I can't," Gabriella argued. It had been a while since he dropped her off at her mother's doorstep with the intent of not sleeping together for the night.

"It's one night baby," Troy gripped both of her hands, "I'll see you tomorrow at eleven."

"I know," Gabriella wined, "Please stay."

Troy held his arms out, "I wish I could but it'll make tomorrow all that much more special."

Gabriella stepped into his comforting hug, "Why do you have to be such an amazing almost husband?"

"Because," Troy chuckled, "You're an even more amazing almost wife."

"Can't you just come in for a little while?" She begged.

"You know if I come in, I won't leave," Troy said with sense.

"That's the point," She tugged on his hand.

"Ella," He pulled her right back and kissed her, "I love you."

"I love you too," She assured and buried her head into his chest, "I'm so scared for tomorrow."

"Why?" Troy rubbed circles on her back.

She just shrugged her shoulders, she honestly didn't know why she was scared.

"I will see you tomorrow, looking beautiful, walking down the aisle in a gorgeous white dress, okay?" Troy tugged her chin up so she was looking him in the eyes.

"Okay," Gabriella bit her lip, "Are you going to cry?"

"Maybe," Troy confessed, "Probably."

"I'm gonna cry," She collapsed back into his chest.

"I know you are," Troy comfortingly kissed her forehead, "Who would've though nineteen years ago, when I sat on the bus and offered you a seat, I'd be marrying the same person?"

"It seems so surreal," Gabriella nodded, "Do you have to go?"

"I do," Troy pulled back, "But I don't want to. Trust me."

"I love you," She cupped his cheeks and placed multiple kisses to his lips.

Troy reciprocated the actions, "I love you too."

"See you tomorrow?" She questioned as he pulled away.

Troy nodded his head in confirmation, "See you tomorrow."

Gabriella walked through the doorframe of her mother's house and watched Troy retreat to his car, waiting until he pulled out of the driveway before heading upstairs to talk with her mother before she went to bed.

* * *

"Troy, honey, I'm so proud of you," Troy watched as his mother went into the spiel she did before every major moment in his life.

"I know Ma," Troy confirmed, trying to straighten his tie for the millionth time.

Lucille laughed, "It looks fine honey, really, it does."

Troy kept at it, keeping himself busy.

"Stand up," Lucille ordered, in her own blue dress.

Troy followed suit, standing up in front of the mirror. Lucille brushed off his shoulders, fixing any possible wrinkles that could have been left in the suit.

"Now, you are going to stand at that alter, looking like the most love-struck man on this planet, alright?" Lucille ordered, trying to make him loosenup.

"I don't need to look like the most love struck man on the planet," He took one tug at the bottom of his jacket, "I am the most love struck man on the planet."

Lucille nodded, "Good, I did a good job raising you. Now, are you ready?"

Troy sent her a nervous look.

"Ready as you'll ever be, got it," Lucille held the door open for him, "Let's go."

Troy took his time, walking through the church to the front. He took a deep breath, looking at the small group of family and friends they had invited. Soon, his older brother and best man joined him, who squeezed his shoulder with a smile on his face, "You ready for this bro?"

Troy shook a shaky nod.

"She's the one dude," Matt only confirmed what he already knew, "Since you were thirteen I've been teasing you about this."

Troy chuckled and wrung his hands together, "I know."

"You're lucky though," He nudged Troy, "She's always been there and you always knew she loved you, whether it be as a friend or more."

"Yeah, I am," Troy confirmed, taking a step back as music began to play. It was now or never.

He watched as her cousin floated down the aisle, followed by two of their close friends before the music stopped and switched to the formal bridal march. Everyone stood and Troy felt his mouth drop as she turned the corner in a white, flowy dress that suited her style perfectly. It was strapless and had a flower underneath her breast line. Sinching at her waist, it flowed out perfectly in her usual beachy style.

What he loved the most was she looked exactly like herself. She wasn't wearing a ton of makeup and left her hair down in its usual curly locks.

All the worries he'd ever had were gone as she walked down the aisle, arm and arm with her mother. His fear of loosing her to an eating disorder, of leaving for separate colleges, finding somewhere to live, and even war all disappeared.

All because Troy knew that he Gabriella, and he always would.

**A/N: I can't believe this day has come. Pardon the long author's note.**

**Wow, I can't believe I'm uploading the last chapter to my very first story. This has held so much emotional attatchment to me and I can't believe it's over. I feel like I have evolved so much as a writer since my first chapter and this story will always mean so much to me as I continue with my other stories.**

**I would obviously like to thank my loyal readers but also my reviewers. You all are so amazing and I appreciate every single review/subscribe/favorite story. It means so much to me, it really does, and I can't stress that enough.**

**Special thank you's are deserved for Bluebell140, my very first and possibly most loyal reviewer. Thank you so much. And also to pumpkinking5, EmilyJZ, mbaby45, babycakes101, yogaluva, dreamoutloud27, 05115mel519, palmbeach, addyD90, bubzchoc, and MilitaryBrat10, all of whom have review almost if not every chapter. I love you all so much, thanks for taking the time to click that little button in the corner of your screen.**

**Keep an eye out for the epilogue, hopefully sometime next week!**


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